 |
Cease-Fire Reached in Palestinian Town of Beit Jalla
After fighting Wednesday, it appeared Israeli troops would soon withdraw from a Palestinian city they took over Tuesday. There were reports of a deal between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to end the clash over Beit Jala.
Israeli troops took over the city of about 12,000 in what officials said was a bid to stop attacks staged from there on the nearby Jewish community of Gilo.
Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said "there is an understanding that has been established between the two sides ... that there will be a cease-fire in place."
Gissin said that "if within a reasonable period of time there is a full cessation of all forms of shooting" by Palestinians from Beit Jala at targets in Israeli territory, Israel's field officers will submit to the government "a recommendation on whether it is possible to redeploy." Israel considers Gilo part of Jerusalem, while Palestinians view it as a settlement built on occupied land.
Gissin declined to provide a timetable or to define a "reasonable time" but indicated a withdrawal could begin at any time.
Palestinian officials said it was their understanding that a withdrawal would begin almost immediately.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, meanwhile, telephoned Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and assured him that he was pressing Israel to leave the city. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Powell told Arafat, "We have been pressing for Israeli withdrawal from there." U.S. officials also called on the Palestinians to stop shooting.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Israel to withdraw its troops from all Palestinian territory and to stop its targeted killings of Palestinian figures. Annan was "greatly dismayed" by the fresh escalation of Middle East violence and appealed to all sides to exercise restraint, spokesman Manoel Almeida e Silva said.
The withdrawal agreement came as fighting appeared to be spiraling into an all-out war. Monday, Israeli helicopters rocketed the West Bank headquarters of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, decapitating the organization's leader, Mustafa Zibri. Tuesday, Israeli tanks occupied Beit Jala, which Israel had relinquished in 1995, in response to prolonged Palestinian gunfire. There was fighting there Tuesday and Wednesday.
In This Section
|