Israel To Hand Over Two Towns to Palestinians

EREZ CROSSING, Israel – Israel will turn over two West Bank towns to Palestinian Arab control in the coming days, Israel’s defense minister announced yesterday after meeting the Palestinian Arab leader, but disagreements remained over how much land around the towns would be transferred.The two-hour meeting at the main crossing point between Gaza and Israel was Palestinian Arab leader Mahmoud Abbas’s first with an Israeli leader since a February 8 summit, when he and Prime Minister Sharon declared a truce to end four years of bloodshed. Transferring control of five West Bank towns was part of the truce package.The Israeli defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, said Israel would hand over control of Tulkarem and Jericho in the coming days, but he did not say exactly when, which would be first, or how much territory would be included – reflecting disagreements with the Palestinian Arabs.“In the next few days we will apparently transfer control over two … towns, after a meeting of security officers” today, Mr. Mofaz said. “We are talking about Tulkarem and Jericho.”Mr. Abbas said not only the towns could be involved. “We are not talking about towns, but also surrounding areas,” he said. “If there are checkpoints, they must be removed.” Israeli roadblocks are a key point for the Palestinian Arabs. Dozens of barriers have limited movement in and out of the towns, strangling social and economic life. Israel insists they are necessary for security.Officials said Israel preferred to hand over Jericho first, while the Palestinian Arabs were holding out for Tulkarem.Tulkarem is on the 1949 cease-fire line that marks the West Bank at Israel’s narrowest point – 10 miles from the city of Netanya on the Mediterranean Sea.Jericho, in contrast, is an isolated oasis in the barren Jordan River Valley, far from Israeli population centers. Previous West Bank transfers of authority have started with Jericho, including the first one in 1994, when Yasser Arafat took control. Arafat died November 11.Under terms of interim peace accords in the mid-90s, Palestinian Arabs took control of West Bank population centers. However, after a series of grisly suicide bombings, Israeli forces went back into the towns in 2002. Since then, there have been several unsuccessful truces and handovers, but Israel always maintained roadblocks at the outskirts of the towns, effectively quarantining them.This transfer is to be different, a senior Israeli official said before the meeting. Israel would pull out of areas around the towns, removing main roadblocks. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the test would be whether Palestinian Arab security, once in control of the areas, would stop terrorists from carrying out attacks against Israelis.Mr. Mofaz said committees of security officials would discuss these issues, starting yesterday, insisting that Palestinian Arabs must crack down on violent groups. At the February 8 summit in Egypt, the two sides agreed that Israel would hand over Qalqiliya, Bethlehem, and Ramallah – the seat of the Palestinian government – as well as Jericho and Tulkarem.Also yesterday, the Israeli army commander, Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon, gave a glimpse of Israel’s long-range goals when he addressed a security conference in Tel Aviv. He said Israel aims to phase out Palestinian Arab workers, in keeping with Mr. Sharon’s overall goal of “disengagement” between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs.

Israel To Hand Over Two Towns to Palestinians

Israel To Hand Over Two Towns to Palestinians

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