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Israel to Return West Bank Cities to PA Control | January 31, 2005

The IRFWP prays that conditions for the withdrawal of Israeli security forces from "Arab cities" in the West Bank can be maintained successfully and for the long term. It is our hope that Arab and Israeli young people in Israel and Palestine encounter one another in amicable circumstances absent military and security needs. We are especially hopeful should conditions result in the lifting of travel restrictions within and between Palestinian territiories, as this latter hope has an impact on religious and spiritual life, and freedom for worship and religious responsibilities.

Mon, Jan 31, 2005

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz announced on Sunday that several Arab cities in the occupied West Bank could be returned to the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the near future.

Such a step would increase the authority of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, while shifting responsibility for public order to the security forces controlled by Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan. According to Palestinian sources and Israeli media reports, sovereignty over the cities of Ramallah, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, and Jericho could soon be returned to the PA as part of confidence-building measures intended to increase Abbas’ standing among his constituency.

The planned concessions come after a weeklong undeclared ceasefire that was largely observed by all parties including the extremist groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, and after local Palestinian elections in the Gaza Strip last weekend that Hamas won by a landslide. According to preliminary results, the fundamentalist group won outright in seven out of 10 precincts, taking 78 out of the 118 seats in the local assembly. Al-Fatah, representing the mainstream of Palestinian nationalism, won only 38 seats, according to Israeli daily Ha’aretz. Observers said Hamas had mobilized its voters more successfully than other parties, especially when compared to voter turnout in the recent Palestinian presidential elections.

Israeli politicians said over the weekend that the Israel Defense Force (IDF) could begin withdrawing from Arab population centers in the West Bank within days, and announced that other confidence-building measures could be expected in the future, including the release of “hundreds” of Palestinian prisoners and lifting travel restrictions within and between the occupied territories, according to media reports. Defense Minister Mofaz said the IDF could return to the positions it had occupied before the latest intifada (uprising) broke out. Such measures, it is hoped, would make it easier for newly elected PA leader Abbas to agree a lasting ceasefire in his negotiations with militant groups.

According to Ha’aretz, Mofaz and Dahlan will meet on Tuesday to work out the details of the next disengagement steps and to address concerns over the capabilities of the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank, which Israel believes to be less efficient than those in Gaza. Newly-appointed US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit Israel next weekend to help prepare a summit meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Abbas that is scheduled for Tuesday, 9 February.

Posted by admin at January 31, 2005 10:54 AM


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