ISRAEL: The Palestinian Authority has given preliminary approval to an Israeli-proposed plan which could lead to a gradual withdrawal of troops from areas the army has reoccupied in recent months.
The decision came even as troops conducted an intensive hunt for militants across the West Bank and Gaza Strip which left six Palestinians - including two local militia leaders - dead.
Meeting in the West Bank town of Ramallah yesterday, the Palestinian Authority gave preliminary approval to a plan whereby Israel would begin pulling its troops out of the Gaza Strip and possibly one Palestinian town in the West Bank, in exchange for a Palestinian crackdown on militant groups.
The approval opened the way for a possible joint security meeting at which the plan, dubbed "Gaza first", was to be discussed. Cabinet minister Mr Nabil Sha'ath said final approval was dependent on the outcome of the meeting, which was expected to take place late last night.
With multiple ceasefire attempts having failed over the last 20 months, the pilot project is a much more cautious approach than US-led efforts to forge an all-encompassing truce across the occupied territories.
However this does not mean success is guaranteed. One Palestinian minister, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the cabinet had little choice but to accept the proposal because of the dire economic situation in the territories as a result of the choking Israeli reoccupation of seven West Bank cities following a wave of suicide attacks in recent months.
If the Palestinians do ultimately adopt the plan, the authority will then have to prove it has the political will to implement it.
"The test will be whether they fulfil their part and take serious steps to fight terrorism," said Mr Ra'anan Gissin, an aide to Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon.
In the West Bank town of Tul Karm, an undercover Israeli unit yesterday killed four members of a militia which is linked to Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat's Fatah Party, including Ziad Daas, the regional commander of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.
The army said Daas was responsible for the execution-style killing of two Israeli restaurant-owners in Tul Karm in January 2001, and a shooting attack in the northern town of Hadera in January this year in which six Israelis were killed.
A senior member of the Hamas military wing, Hussam Hamdan, was shot dead yesterday in the Gaza Strip while sitting on the roof of his home in Khan Younis in what Palestinians said was a hit carried out by Israeli sharpshooters. Earlier, a Palestinian policeman was killed when Israeli tanks thrust into the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia.
A hunt by Israeli security forces, which spanned several months, came to an end at daybreak yesterday in Bethlehem when troops snatched Yehiye Damsa, whom the army described as an explosives expert nicknamed "Bin Laden" by the local population.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian delegation is heading for Washington for the first high-level talks with US officials since President Bush in June called on the Palestinians to elect new leaders.
Israeli authorities yesterday arrested a pro-Palestinian Dublin activist at a West Bank military checkpoint. Mr Salah Afifi (25) from Ranelagh is being held with three other members of the International Solidarity Movement and has been transferred to Ramle detention centre, the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign said.