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Palestinian
special forces take over the security control in Bethlehem
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OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, July 2 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The Israeli
army announced Wednesday, July 2, that it had completed the transfer of
security control in the West Bank city of Bethlehem to Palestinian
authorities.
Al-Jazeera
said that although the handover had been achieved, Israeli troops still
besiege the city's peripheries.
"Responsibility
for security matters has been transferred," an army spokeswoman
told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
A
jeep carrying six members of the preventive security forces could be
seen driving past the Church of the Nativity in the centre of the city
at around 4:00 pm (1300 GMT).
Scores
of police in dark-colored uniforms also took up positions in the town
after a Palestinian flag-raising ceremony over the local security
headquarters.
Some
were seen carrying assault rifles while others had holstered weapons on
their belts.
The
move came three days after Israeli troops pulled
out of some reoccupied areas in the northern Gaza Strip and transferred
security responsibilities there to the Palestinian services.
The
Gaza withdrawal coincided with a truce
announcement by most Palestinian factions, who pledged to halt anti-Israeli attacks
for three months.
Meanwhile,
Israel agreed to release 21 Palestinian political prisoners Wednesday,
including a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
(PFLP), AFP reported according to a Palestinian security official.
Haj
Ismail Jabr, head of Palestinian National Security forces in the West
Bank, said among those whom Israel agreed to be released was Ahmed
Saadat, secretary general of the PFLP.
Saadat
is currently being held under international guard in the West Bank town
of Jericho in connection with the October 2001 assassination of Israeli
tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi claimed by the PFLP.
However,
there was no immediate confirmation of the planned releases from the
Israeli defense ministry.
On
Tuesday, July 1, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmmoud Abbas met with his
Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon, asserting that peace could only be
materialized by giving the Palestinians their national rights.
Sharon
and Abbas agreed to form joint committees on crucial issues in order to
bring about a halt to 33 months of fighting and boost the peace process.
"The
meeting was particularly useful due to the fact we have decided to
create joint working committees on the outstanding issues,"
Palestinian information minister Nabil Amr said.
Those
committees would notably touch on security, the Palestinian economy and
the release of prisoners.
'Wouldn't
Last'
But
a poll published Wednesday revealed that almost two-thirds of Israelis
believe the truce will fall apart within a month.
Thirty-six
percent said they did not expect the ceasefire would last a week while a
further 26 percent thought that it would survive no longer than a month,
according to the survey carried by Israeli military radio.
The
truce on the suspension of military activity against Israel is
conditioned on a halt to army incursions, targeted killings and house
demolitions, as well as on the release of Palestinian prisoners.
The
success of the truce also hinged on that of the joint security
agreements on the areas handed back to the Palestinians.
Palestinian
security sources said that Israeli troops still posted in and around the
Gaza Strip had violated agreements several times over the past 24 hours.
They
cited the overnight closure of the main north-south road, two shootings
against farmers in the south and east of Jabalya, as well as
insufficient efforts to let Palestinians through the Rafah crossing
between Gaza and Egypt.
