Israel: Israel was poised yesterday to withdraw its troops from a second West Bank city in a gesture to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas after he won a commitment from militants to hold their fire against Israelis.
"We expect to transfer Tulkarm to Palestinian responsibility tomorrow," defence minister Shaul Mofaz told reporters at an army base in central Israel. He said the city of Qalqilya would be next, but gave no date for that pullback.
Israeli and Palestinian officers met yesterday evening to finalise details of the redeployment from Tulkarm, a city of some 50,000 people.
Israel handed the West Bank city of Jericho to Palestinian security control last Wednesday.
Israel had promised on the eve of a February 8th peace summit to move its forces away from five West Bank cities it surrounded and frequently raided during the past 4½ years of fighting.
Its network of army checkpoints, restricting Palestinian travel across the West Bank, is one of the most hated symbols of Israeli occupation for the 2.3 million Palestinians who live in the territory. Israel calls the roadblocks a security necessity.
But violence has dropped dramatically since Mr Abbas, elected on January 9th to replace the late Yasser Arafat, and Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon declared a ceasefire at last month's summit in Egypt.
About a dozen Palestinian militant factions agreed at talks with Mr Abbas last week to extend until the end of this year the de facto truce that preceded his meeting with Mr Sharon. - (Reuters)