16 terror suspects held ahead of talks

ISRAELI security forces arrested 16 suspected Palestinian militants yesterday ahead of a fresh round of talks aimed at securing an Israeli troop withdrawal from some Palestinian areas.

The military said it captured eight men in the southern Gaza Strip and another eight in the West Bank, all of them “suspected of terrorism”.

The Israeli media said Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer was expected to meet senior Palestinian security officials yesterday evening.

He was due to discuss with them a plan by which Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip would move back to positions they held prior to the September 2000 outbreak of the current Palestinian uprising.

The Defence Ministry could not confirm talks would take place yesterday.

A ministry statement quoted comments from Mr Ben-Eliezer at yesterday morning’s Cabinet meeting in which he told ministers the meeting was planned for the “near future”.

“The talks are aimed at getting a ceasefire and reducing tension,” Ben-Eliezer told Israeli army radio.

Haaretz newspaper said Mr Ben-Eliezer intends to propose to the Palestinian officials that the redeployment plan, known as Gaza First, be broadened to include the West Bank towns of Bethlehem and Hebron.

The plan is meant as a pilot scheme, whereby Palestinian forces are to retake security control of areas vacated by the Israeli troops, and will work to prevent attacks on Israelis.

If the attacks stop in Gaza and other areas where the Israeli troops withdraw, then it will be gradually extended throughout areas that are supposed to be under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

Mr Ben-Eliezer met yesterday with newly appointed UN humanitarian envoy Catherine Bertini for talks on how to improve conditions for

Palestinians, who are struggling with spiraling unemployment, Israeli military curfews and widespread road closures.

The Defence Ministry said that during the meeting Ben-Eliezer ordered the army to allow the passage of medical and humanitarian traffic in Palestinian areas with the minimum delay possible.

Israel has imposed curfews and sent troops into West Bank Palestinian towns and cities to stop militants from entering Israel and launching attacks, such as suicide bombings.

Palestinians trapped in their homes for days at a time say this policy is a collective punishment that has devastating economic consequences.