Jericho to be transferred to Palestinian control
The West Bank town of Jericho and surrounding areas will be transferred to the control of Palestinians within the next few days – possibly as early as this evening – to be followed by the town of Tulkarem, a senior Israeli Defence Ministry official said today.
“It could be this evening, it could be in the next few days,” Amos Gilad told Israel Army Radio.
The Palestinians’ ability to prove they can halt terror after the Jericho handover is a condition for transferring control over other West Bank cities later, Gilad said.
Jericho had been relatively quiet throughout four and a half years of violence that preceded a February 8 truce declared by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
The planned handover of the two towns was announced last night following a two-hour meeting between Abbas and Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz. At the time, Mofaz said Israel would hand over control of Tulkarem and Jericho in the coming days, but he did not say exactly when, which would be first, or how much territory would be included – reflecting disagreements with the Palestinians.
The talks at the main Erez Crossing point between Gaza and Israel were Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ first with an Israeli leader since February 8.
Transferring control of five West Bank towns was part of the truce package, but the reconciliation has been held up by a Palestinian suicide bombing in Tel Aviv that killed five Israelis on February 25.
Abbas said not only the towns could be involved. “We are not talking about towns, but also surrounding areas,” he said. “If there are (Israeli) checkpoints, they must be removed.”
Israeli roadblocks are a key point for the Palestinians. Dozens of barriers have limited movement in and out of the towns, strangling social and economic life. Israel insists they are necessary for security.
Officials said Israel preferred to hand over Jericho first, while the Palestinians were holding out for Tulkarem. The Tel Aviv bomber came from the Tulkarem area.
Tulkarem is on the 1949 cease-fire line that marks the West Bank at Israel’s narrowest point – 10 miles from the city of Netanya on the Mediterranean Sea.
Jericho, in contrast, is an isolated oasis in the barren Jordan River valley, far from Israeli population centres. Previous West Bank transfers of authority have started with Jericho, including the first one in 1994, when Yasser Arafat took control. Arafat died on November 11.
Under terms of interim peace accords in the mid-90s, Palestinians took control of West Bank population centres. However, after a series of grisly suicide bombings, Israeli forces went back into the towns in 2002. Since then, there have been several unsuccessful truces and handovers, but Israel always maintained roadblocks at the outskirts of the towns, effectively quarantining them.
This transfer is to be different, a senior Israeli official said before yesterday’s meeting. Israel would pull out of areas around the towns, removing main roadblocks. The unidentified official said the test would be whether Palestinian security, once in control of the areas, would stop militants from carrying out attacks against Israelis.
Mofaz said committees of security officials would discuss these issues starting today, insisting that Palestinians must crack down on violent groups.
At the February 8 summit in Egypt, the two sides agreed that Israel would hand over Qalqiliya, Bethlehem and Ramallah – the seat of the Palestinian government - as well as Jericho and Tulkarem.
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