The Israeli army completed its withdrawal from the West Bank towns of Bethlehem and Beit Jala early on Monday, ending a 10-day invasion that left 22 Palestinians dead, reports said.
The Israeli pullout from the Palestinian-ruled areas came hours after a decision by the inner security cabinet to continue "preparations" for the withdrawal.
The withdrawal was completed without incident, AFP reported.
"Our forces pulled out of the positions they had been occupying in the Bethlehem sector for about 10 days," an Israeli military spokesman told the agency.
However, Palestinian sources were quoted by Haaretz as saying that Israeli troops were massing on the outskirts of the West Bank town of Jenin.
Over 700 Palestinians and more than 170 Israelis have been killied in the 13-month uprising against 34 years of Israeli military occupation, according to AFP.
According to Amnesty International, occupation troops have killed around 100 Palestinian children.
A statement released by the Prime Minister's Office Sunday evening said that "Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has authorized the defense establishment to continue with preparations for withdrawal from Beit Jala and Bethlehem, in accordance with the conditions that were previously agreed upon and on condition that the Palestinians stand by their commitments," the paper added.
The inner security cabinet - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer - also authorized the Israeli army to respond to the shooting attack in Hadera in which four Israelis were killed and 42 were wounded, three of them seriously.
The two Palestinian gunmen who carried out the attack in Hadera were from Jenin.
According to the Israeli paper, the prime minister convened the Tel Aviv meeting of the inner security cabinet to discuss postponing the Israeli army withdrawal from Palestinian cities and Israel's response to shooting attacks in Hadera and near Wadi Ara.
The statement added that Sharon noted the importance of continued operations in the field by the army and the security forces in light of Sundays' attacks.
Sharon aide Ra'anan Gissin said, "Apparently during the day, they (the Palestinians) have taken several steps and during the evening they have started to comply with their obligations."
In the streets, Palestinian police patrolled on foot or in convoys of cars.
"Men of all the Palestinian security forces will patrol the streets tonight and in the coming days" to enforce respect for the ceasefire, said local police chief Colonel Mohammad Abu Sahmud.
From her home in Beit Jala, sanitary official Diana Mubarak threw sweets to the few passers-by to mark the withdrawal, but she was bitter about the Israeli occupation which she called a disaster, said the agency – Albawaba.com
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