Israel ready to start withdrawing if killing stops

THE Israeli ambassador to the United States yesterday said Israel will be ready to start withdrawing troops from Palestinian territories, if terrorist attacks against Israel were halted.

“We would move tomorrow ... if there was somebody to take responsibility there and make sure that Israeli citizens are not being killed,” Ambassador daniel Ayalon told ABC's “This Week” program.

But he pointed out that Israel would like to see first the “complete dismantling of the infrastructure of the terrorists” in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including the radical groups Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.