Under heavy U.S. pressure, Israeli troops started after midnight pulling out of the West Bank cities of Qalqilyah and Tulkarem. The pullout is expected to be completed by Tuesday morning.
Israel's Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer has nevertheless "ordered the army to redeploy while consolidating its blockade" on the two cities, the ministry said in a statement.
Tulkarem and Qalqilya would be the first of the six West Bank cities reoccupied by Israel in the operation it launched on March 29 to be evacuated.
The Israeli move came hours after U.S. President Bush sent a stern message to Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon demanding that he immediately begin withdrawing Israeli troops from Palestinian towns in the West Bank, which the Israeli army has occupied since its offensive was launched.
In addition, Washington asked Israel on Monday to ease the isolation of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank town of Ramallah, and allow him to meet with his advisors to discuss U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni's cease-fire proposal. Zinni met Monday with Sharon to relay to him Bush administration's position.
Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told the BBC on Monday that U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell would be able to meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, most likely in the Palestinian Authority leader's Ramallah headquarters, where he has been under siege since "Operation Defensive Wall" began 11 days ago.
The Americans are also demanding that Israel distance its forces from Arafat's headquarters, to ensure that he is not accidentally harmed, and to make it easier for Powell to meet with Arafat when he arrives in Israel later on this week.
Arafat told Zinni last Friday that in principle he accepts his bridging proposal, however he wants to confer with his advisors so they can analyze the substance of the plan and compare it with the Tenet truce plan proposed last year by CIA director George Tenet. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
