Palestinian and Israeli officials said the Israeli army would withdraw Saturday night from the West Bank city of Bethlehem and the neighboring village of Beit Jala, but only under conditions of "quiet."
However, scattered gunfire was reported, and Israel continued arresting Palestinians for alleged links to the killing of a hawkish minister.
At a joint security meeting in Bethlehem Saturday morning, Palestinian officials pledged to keep the peace after the expected Israeli pullout, Israeli army radio reported, cited by AFP.
Notably, Palestinian police offered to prevent gunfire aimed at the Jewish settlement of Gilo in occupied east Jerusalem, the radio said.
Earlier, West Bank security chief Jibril Rjoub told Palestinian radio that "Israeli forces are supposed to withdraw from Bethlehem and Beit Jala this evening, without any conditions.
"The proposal was presented by the American side during the security meeting between Israel and the Palestinians last night," he said.
He added that "the American proposal came after the Palestinians rejected Israeli proposals for a step-by-step withdrawal from the two communities."
Rjoub said the two sides were scheduled to meet again with US officials Sunday to plan further Israeli withdrawals from Palestinian cities.
Friday's security meeting was the first between the two sides since Israel launched its assault on the West Bank after the October 17 assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi.
In an interview Saturday morning on Israel Radio, Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer said that the Israeli army would not withdraw from Bethlehem and Beit Jala if shooting incidents continued to take place there.
"All night there were shooting incidents, it's a fact. We shall see what happens. If there is quiet, and someone takes responsibility for keeping the existing security level low, we will withdraw," he said.
An official from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office described the move as a "test" for a phased Israeli withdrawal from Nablus, Jenin, Ramallah, Tulkarem and Qalqilya, the other cities reoccupied.
The Tel Aviv-based Haaretz reported shooting attacks on Israeli occupation troops overnight Friday and early Saturday morning in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In addition, an explosive device was discovered next to an army vehicle north of Nablus in the West Bank, and was safely detonated by Israeli sappers.
Meanwhile, Palestinians shot at the West Bank settlement of Psagot and at an army outpost in Jenin. Palestinians from the Bethlehem refugee camp of Aida also opened fire on Israeli positions, said Haaretz.
In a statement faxed to Albawaba.com Friday, Hamas’s military wing, the Izzidin Al Qassam Brigades, said they had fired “Qassam I rockets” on the Israeli town of Ajdarot to the north of the Gaza Strip.
Haaretz reported mortar attacks in the area, saying that five mortar shells were fired at the Gaza Strip overnight, three of them into Israeli territory, and two towards army outposts. “No injuries or damage was caused, despite the fact that three shells fell near an Israeli community.”
It said that an Israeli soldier was lightly wounded Friday evening in a shooting attack next to the West Bank settlement of Shevei Shomron, west of Nablus. Shots were also fired from the direction of Qalquilya at Kibbutz Nir Eliyahu, north of Kfar Sava. The kibbutz is located inside Israel over the 1967 Green Line border. There were no injuries there.
In the meanwhile, the Israeli army arrested six Palestinian activists Saturday in a village southwest of Nablus, Palestinian security sources said.
Five members of the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and one member the Fateh movement were arrested in the village of Kefel Haris, said AFP.
Al Jazeera satellite channel has put the number of arrests at seven.
Israel says 37 people have been arrested for alleged links to the killing of Zeevi. Those arrested went on a hunger strike on Saturday to protest their arrest – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
