Two more West Bank cities transferred to Palestine

Israel said it would transfer two more West Bank cities to Palestinian control and close three roadblocks, as it moved ahead cautiously with a U.S.-backed peace plan.

The statement by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office last night said decisions on which cities would be handed over and the timing of the transfers would be taken next week in a meeting between the Israeli defence minister the Palestinian security chief.

Further handovers of cities and dismantling of roadblocks are among moves the Palestinian Authority has been demanding as part of implementing the “road map” peace blueprint. So far, Israel has pulled troops out of parts of Gaza and the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

The announcement came as sporadic violence continued despite a ceasefire.

An Israeli soldier opened fire on a truck on the West Bank yesterday, killing a four-year-old boy and wounding two other children. The Israeli army said the shooting was accidental.

On the same day, police searching for missing Israeli soldier Oleg Shaichat said he had most likely been kidnapped or killed by militants. Shaichat has been missing since Monday, and his family issued a plea for his release yesterday.

Progress has been stalled on the peace plan, which calls for an end to violence and Palestinian statehood by 2005, despite a temporary truce declared by Palestinian militants on June 29 that has greatly reduced the bloodshed of the previous 33 months.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas met yesterday with Bush at the White House in hopes of getting the Americans to pressure the Israelis to move more quickly on the peace plan.

Sharon meets Bush in Washington on Tuesday, and Bush told reporters in a joint news conference with Abbas that he welcomed the moves announced by Sharon’s office.

“Like Prime Minister Abbas, Prime Minister Sharon is demonstrating that he’s a partner committed to reaching a peace settlement,” Bush said.

Abbas, however, called the steps taken by Israel so far ”hesitant.”

“The new era of peace requires the courageous logic of peace, not the suspicious logic of conflict,” Abbas said.

Abbas is under heavy political pressure to win Israeli concessions as a way of generating Palestinian public support for the peace plan and bolstering his own flagging political backing.

In addition to handing over two cities, Sharon’s office said Israel would take down three major roadblocks, and Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered defence forces to reevaluate the need for other roadblocks.

Israel erected the roadblocks throughout the West Bank as part of its effort to stop suicide bombers and other attackers, but Palestinians say the roadblocks are demeaning and greatly hinder the freedom of movement of ordinary people while determined attackers find ways around them anyway.

The statement, however, did not break new ground on an issue that Palestinians have said is a top priority: a mass release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails for alleged involvement in terrorism.

Israel has agreed to free several hundred of the 7,700 Palestinians it holds, but has not yet committed to releasing thousands, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants. Israel argues that Abbas’ government needs to begin disarming militants responsible for attacks on Israelis as a condition for real progress on the peace plan.