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The Palestinians and Israel reached on Friday an agreement on the pullout of Israeli troops from part of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Palestinian sources said.
The sources said the deal was reached during a meeting between Palestinian Minister of Security Affairs Mohammed Dahlan and Israeli General Amos Gilad in Tel Aviv, the fourth round of talks between the two in recent days.
Security officials from both sides will meet at the Erez border in the northern Gaza city on Saturday and in Bethlehem on Sunday to finalize details of the Israeli pullout from Gaza, they said. An agreement has also been reached on the opening of Salah el-Din main road, which connects the south and north of the Gaza Strip, and Abu-Holy Road, which will remain open 24 hours a day. The opening hour of Rafah border will also be extended from six hours to 12 hours, the sources said.
Israeli TV channel reported earlier that under the agreement, Israel will start pulling out its troops from the two areas as early as Monday, end its raids against Palestinians and allow Palestinians to move freely in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the Palestinians will take over security responsibility for the areas where Israeli troops pull out, stop attacks, including rocket and mortar fire, against Israeli targets and act against Palestinian militants who are planning attacks against Israel.
US officials who are in Israel to monitor implementation of the roadmap peace plan will oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops, the TV report said.
Israel and the Palestinians have been negotiating on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Palestinians territories as part of internationally-drafted roadmap peace deal for the Middle East.
The talks has been deadlocked for several weeks due to the disagreement on who would control the Salah el-Din main road.
(Xinhua News Agency June 30, 2003)
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