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.