Israel transfered security control in the West Bank city of Bethlehem to the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday. Details of the transfer were finalized Tuesday at a meeting between senior security officials from both sides. Following the meeting, the participants conducted a joint tour of potential friction spots in the area.
Under the agreement, Israel will not launch raids into the city and Palestinian police will prevent attacks on Israeli targets.
The Israeli forces started pulling out of the city at Wednesday noon, clearing the way for Palestinian policemen to resume security control. Israeli troops maintained positions around the city. A Palestinian police officer in Bethlehem was quotde as saying that his forces were starting at "zero" because they have only four vehicles available to them, after the Israeli army confiscated or destroyed 52 others.
Bethlehem mayor Hanna Nasser, who has watched Israel hand back responsibility for the West Bank city before, declared he hoped Wednesday's handover would be more serious than in the past. "I can do nothing except to be optimistic, because I see no alternative for the two peoples other than to live together," he told Israeli TV.
Under the road map peace plan, Israel must gradually withdraw to positions it held before the outbreak of fighting in September 2000. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
