July 2, 2003
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
Israel transfered security control in the West Bank city of Bethlehem to the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday, days after the PA assumed control in the Gaza Strip.
Photo: Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (R) meet for peace talks in Jerusalem July 1, 2003. Israel was preparing to hand over control of the West Bank city of Bethlehem to Palestinian security forces Wednesday, a key step in the U.S.-backed peace plan. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
The IDF began pulling its troops out of Bethlehem lunchtime Wednesday, clearing the way for Palestinians to resume security control, Israel Radio reported. Israeli troops will maintain positions around the city.
Israel Radio quoted a senior Palestinian police officer in Bethlehem as saying that his forces were starting at zero because they have only four vehicles available to them, after the IDF confiscated or destroyed 52 others.
Details of the transfer were finalized Tuesday at a meeting between senior security officials from both sides.
No major disagreements emerged during the meeting, which was headed on the Israeli side by the IDF's commander in the West Bank, Brigadier General Gadi Eisencott, and on the Palestinian side by General Haj Ismail, the commander of the National Security Service in the West Bank.
However, Israel did reject one Palestinian request: that Route 60, the West Bank's main north-south artery, which runs from Hebron in the south through Bethlehem and eventually north to Nablus, be reopened to Palestinian traffic.
A senior Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that the end of the intifada may be near and it will signal a victory for Israel. The top-ranking officer said that Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is serious about the measures he is taken and understands that terrorism is a mistake, Israel Radio reported.
He added that he hopes that the Palestinians will put a stop to almost all terror attacks. The IDF has already started to reduce its presence in the territories, he added, and has released a number of reserve battalions from service.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the weekly cabinet meeting Wednesday that the coming weeks will be critical and the defense establishment is closely following whether the Palestinians are fulfilling their part of the agreements.
An Israeli security guard was lightly injured Wednesday morning in a shooting attack on workers building the security fence close to the West Bank town of Tul Karm. A bomb also exploded close to the fence near the town of Qalqilyah while a Palestinian opened fire on IDF troops in Nablus; no one was injured in either incident.
Also Wednesday morning, IDF troops arrested six wanted Palestinians in a number of West Bank towns. Four of the men arrested are wanted by the IDF for alleged involvement in terrorist activities while two others were brought in for questioning.
The transfer of authority in Bethlehem will not require a major redeployment of IDF troops, since the army has no fixed presence in Bethlehem. However, the move will prevent the IDF from entering the city to arrest wanted men, which it has done freely until now. Israel will continue to control the area around Rachel's Tomb, as stipulated in the Oslo Accords.
Yedioth Ahronoth's ynet Internet site quoted Palestinian sources Wednesday as saying that Israel could pull out of the West Bank city of Ramallah, where PA Chairman Yasser Arafat has been confined for over a year, as early as next week.
PA Information Minister Nabil Amar told the Voice of Palestine radio station Wednesday morning that the Palestinians are ready to take over in any area Israel withdraws from in the near future. He also said that Palestinian Security Minister Mohammed Dahlan may meet with Mofaz in the coming days.
In Gaza, the transfer of authority that began Monday has yet to run into any major hitches. Though there have been occasional shooting incidents - including three directed at IDF outposts in the Gush Katif settlement bloc Tuesday and an attempt to fire a mortar at settlements in the area - there have been no conflicts involving Palestinian traffic on roads there. The Palestinians have been gradually deploying through the territory handed over to them, and are preparing the Tiska'ot Road east of Kfar Darom for reopening.
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