Israel to freeze handover of Palestinian towns

Mohammed Daraghmeh, Ramallah

Mr Mofaz spoke during a meeting of Israel’s security cabinet, and his comments were reported anonymously by participants.

During a Mideast summit in February, Israel pledged to transfer five West Bank towns to Palestinian control over several weeks. However, so far Israel has only handed over the towns of Jericho and Tulkarem. The Tulkarem handover took place on March 22, and the process has been stuck since then.

Israel has said repeatedly it is not moving forward because the Palestinians have failed to crack down on gunmen in these areas. During yesterday’s security cabinet meeting, Mr Mofaz confirmed to the ministers that he has frozen the process, participants said.

Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Palestinian Authority was never formally notified of the Israeli freeze. “It’s a very unfortunate approach and decision,” he said.

Israel Radio meanwhile, said preparations were under way to free a further 400 Palestinian prisoners, as agreed in the truce deal.

Israel freed 500 prisoners in February. Israeli and Palestinian cabinet ministers are to meet next week to discuss the release.

Earlier, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas criticised Israel for pressuring him to confront militants and accused it of looking to spill Palestinian blood.

In a meeting with business people, academics and public officials on Tuesday, Mr Abbas also promised a referendum on any final peace deal, and said Palestinians “would not accept anything less” than Israel’s return to the borders it held before the 1967 Mideast war, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Abbas held out hope for the dismantling of large Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank, saying there is a precedent for settlement removal.

He has come under stiff pressure from Israel to curb Palestinian militants, but although his rhetoric has become fiercer recently,

he is reluctant to go head- to-head with them for fear of provoking bloodshed.

In Gaza on Tuesday, his police freed a Hamas militant who was seized with weapons and a rocket launcher in his car just minutes after militants fired rockets from Gaza at Israel in violation of the February 8 truce. Palestinian officials said the suspect was released under pressure from Hamas and Egypt, which helped mediate the truce.

“Israelis want Palestinian blood to be spilled, and we don’t accept that,” WAFA quoted Mr Abbas as saying. “This is a red line. We run our security in our own way, for our people’s protection. We work day and night, there are obstacles, and progress is slow.”