Israel, Palestinians to Hold Security Meeting on CeasefireIsraeli and Palestinian security officials are to hold a meeting on Monday to work out a timetable for the implementation of a ceasefire plan, Israel Radio reported.The meeting, also to be attended by representatives of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), was originally slated for Sunday but was postponed. The ceasefire, which was brokered by CIA chief George Tenet and took effect last Wednesday, was followed by a marked drop in violence. Israel and the Palestinians, however, have been accusing each other of not fulfilling their obligations as prescribed in the ceasefire plan. Under the plan, Israel must lift closure on Palestinian towns and villages and start redeploying forces in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians, on the other hand, are required to arrest activists of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the Islamic Jihad (Holy War), who are suspected of planning further attacks against Israel. So far, Israel has only partly lifted closure on the Palestinian territories while the Palestinians have refused to arrest activists of the radical groups. Palestinian officials said on Monday that it expects a timetable to be formulated by Thursday to detail redeployment of Israeli forces to positions before the outbreak of the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, last September. On Sunday, Israeli and Palestinian officers made a ceasefire inspection near the settlement of Netzarim, a flashpoint in the Gaza Strip, in the first joint patrol in months. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, speaking at an Arab foreign ministers meeting in Jordan's capital of Amman on Monday, said that the ceasefire can not last unless Israel lifts closure on the Palestinian areas and freeze settlement construction in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. |
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