Israel prepared to withdraw, says Peres

ISRAELI Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said yesterday that the army was prepared to withdraw from two West Bank towns occupied for more than a month as long as Palestinian security forces were ready to take over and prevent attacks against Israel.

In yesterday’s violence, two Palestinian militants were shot and killed by Israeli soldiers when they tried to attack a Jewish settlement in the southern Gaza Strip, the army said, while two soldiers were lightly injured in a clash. Mosque loudspeakers in the nearby Palestinian town of Khan Yunis announced that the militant Islamic Jihad group carried out the attack.

Also, Israeli authorities agreed to allow the reopening of the office of the leading Palestinian official in east Jerusalem, Sari Nusseibeh. Police closed his office two weeks ago, alleging that Nusseibeh, president of Al-Quds University, violated peace accords by engaging in Palestinian political activity in Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, Peres confirmed Palestinian reports that Israel has offered to withdraw from the West Bank towns of Hebron and Bethlehem if Palestinian security takes control.

“We really want to get out of there as soon as (Palestinian) security is deployed,” Peres told Israel Radio.

Asked if he was confirming reports that the army would withdraw from towns, Peres said: “Yes, there are towns that are more quiet than others; Hebron, Bethlehem and Jericho.” He did not say when a withdrawal might take place.

Israel has troops in seven of the eight major Palestinian cities and towns in the West Bank, including Hebron and Bethlehem. The soldiers moved in after two suicide bomb attacks in Jerusalem more than a month ago. But Jericho, which has been quiet through most of the Palestinian uprising, is the one West Bank town that has not been occupied.

The Israeli army was prepared to allow residents in Hebron and Bethlehem to go back to travel more freely, Peres said, though he did not elaborate.

The army-imposed curfew was lifted for the day yesterday in several Palestinian towns, including Hebron. But it remained in effect in Bethlehem.

The curfew has confined some 700,000 Palestinians to their homes for much of the past month, keeping them from jobs and largely shutting down the economy, which has been decimated by 22 months of fighting.

In another development, Israel backed away on Sunday from a proposal to deport to the Gaza Strip 21 relatives of suspected Palestinian militants. The 21 were arrested last Friday in the West Bank and are relations of two suspected attackers.

The turnaround came after Israeli legal officials said the relatives couldn’t be deported unless they were directly linked to attacks.

Israel had hoped to use the deportations as a way to deter potential suicide bombers, but the international community harshly criticised the proposal.

Human rights groups said the Israeli idea would violate international law. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: “Self-defense cannot justify measures that amount to collective punishments.” Even Israel’s closet ally, the United States, warned the government against deporting anyone based solely on their family relations.

Ranaan Gissin, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said investigations of the 21 family members were continuing, to see if any fit the criteria for deportation.