Israel to hand over Jenin before pull-out
Israel has agreed to hand over the West Bank town of Jenin to the Palestinians before withdrawing from four nearby West Bank settlements and the Gaza Strip this summer, the Palestinian Interior Ministry said today.
Jenin is a stronghold for Palestinian militants, and was not one of the five towns Israel agreed to transfer under a February cease-fire package, but Israel agreed to pull out of Jenin ahead of the summer withdrawal from Gaza and the northern West Bank so Palestinian security forces can take control of the evacuated West Bank settlements, ministry spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa said.