Israel hailed its withdrawal of troops today from the West Bank as proof of its wish to end months of bloodshed and said it was waiting to see the Palestinian response.
Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon's office said Israel was prepared to start peace talks once a truce was in place.
"We recently took a series of measures to prepare the ground for the mission of American envoy Anthony Zinni and the ball is now in the Palestinians' court," Mr Arie Mekel, a government spokesman, told reporters.
Earlier, the Israeli army announced it had pulled out of a number of Palestinian towns in the West Bank and from the Al Boureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
During the night, Israeli forces had arrested three "terror activists" in Qaluza, north of Nablus, and another three in Qalqilya, and discovered a number of radio devices and explosive materials, an army spokesman said.
The Israeli pullout comes after heavy US pressure on the army to end its occupation of Ramallah with the arrival of US peace envoy Mr Anthony Zinni in Israel.
Mr Zinni arrived in Israel on a day when 13 more were killed despite Mr Sharon's order for his army to begin withdrawing from Ramallah.
Shortly after Mr Sharon revealed his decision to loosen the army's grip on Ramallah, four Palestinians, including three members of the radical Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, were kidnapped by the Israeli army in Balaa, near the northern West Bank town of Tulkarem, Palestinian security sources said.
Radical Islamist group Hamas said it would continue its attacks against Israel during Mr Zinni's visit.
AFP