Israeli Troops Exit Bethlehem

20/08/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Occupation Soldiers Kill a Teenager Near Jenin & Demolish a Building in Nablus||Palestinian Police Begin Patrolling Bethlehem Streets||CIA Plays Key Role in Working out Latest Agreement||Redeployment of Palestinian Police in Gaza to be Implemented in Stages||Israeli Settlers Join Palestinian Resistance Groups in Criticizing 'Gaza First' Deal|| STORY: Israel withdrew its occupation soldiers from Bethlehem early Tuesday, part of the first Israeli-Palestinian security agreement in a year that tests the waters for more handovers.

The United States welcomed the deal, which also calls for Israel to withdraw from parts of Gaza and for the Palestinians to take over security duties in the newly vacated areas. The State Department said it could lead to further peacemaking steps.

While tension dropped in some places, violence continued in others. Israeli occupation forces blew up a building they said was a bomb factory in the old city of Nablus, and occupation soldiers shot and killed a 14-year-old boy in a village near Jenin.

The Bethlehem withdrawal began late Monday and residents said the last Israeli occupation troops had departed by early Tuesday morning. Palestinian police began patrolling the town.

"The redeployment is aimed to enable the Palestinians to act against so-called terrorism and restore daily life," an Israeli occupation army statement said, confirming that Israeli occupation troops had withdrawn.

The new agreement - reached Sunday night by Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and his Palestinian counterpart, Interior Minister Abdel Razak Yehiyeh - was the first since June 2001, when CIA Director George Tenet hammered out a cease-fire that was never implemented.

The CIA talked to both sides as they worked out latest agreement, a U.S. official and sources close to the Palestinians said.
Tenet met earlier this month at his headquarters with Yehiyeh. The CIA subsequently was in touch with Israeli and Palestinian officials, and played a role in working out the agreement, the U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.

REDEPLOYMENT OF PALESTINIAN POLICE FORCES IN GAZA TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN STAGES

Yehiyeh told The Associated Press that redeployment in Gaza would be implemented in stages.

"From our side, we will take all the necessary procedures to achieve internal security and public security in those areas," Yehiyeh said.

In Gaza, Palestinian police checked papers of drivers on a main northern road on Monday. Police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, linked the checks to the new agreement, saying they would implement all aspects of it.

Israel has said that if the Palestinians act to prevent attacks from Bethlehem and the areas handed over in Gaza, it may hand over more of the West Bank towns it has held since June.

INTERNATIONAL TASK FORCE TO MEET IN PARIS THURSDAY & FRIDAY TO DISCUSS REFORMING PA

An international task force will meet in Paris on Thursday and Friday to consider ways to reform the Palestinian Authority, which President Bush in June accused of corruption and involvement in terror attacks on Israel.

American, Russian, European Union, United Nations, Norwegian and Japanese officials will attend, as well as officials from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

SETTLERS JOIN RESISTANCE GROUPS IN CRITICIZING THE AGREEMENT

Opposition to the deal mainly came from Palestinian Hamas and Jihad Resistance groups, responsible for most of the Resistance bombings inside Israel. Charging that the pact was aimed at ending the Palestinian uprising, they pledged to continue their attacks against Israel.

The council representing Israeli settlers in the West Bank and Gaza has meanwhile joined Palestinian Resistance groups in harshly criticized the deal. "This is a step that is counter to Israel's security interests," a council statement said. "The Palestinians should be defeated and the war brought to an end." Settlers have been frequent targets of Palestinian Resistance attackers and bombers.

Previous attempts at cease-fires have crumbled under continuing Palestinian attacks and Israeli reprisals.

PHOTO CAPTION

Israeli border police lean against the front of an armored bulldozer to eat their dinner as two border police jeeps pass inside a checkpoint separating Jerusalem from the West Bank town of Bethlehem Monday Aug. 19, 2002. Israel's defense minister and a Yasser Arafat envoy agreed Israeli forces will begin pulling out of parts of Bethlehem to be replaced by Palestinian security. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelde