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Israeli Troops to Withdraw From Palestinian Towns: TV
Israel will pull out its troops from six Palestinian-controlled towns in the West Bank within the next two days, Israel TV quoted security sources as reporting on Tuesday.
The move came after the United States exerted intense pressure on the Israeli government, however, the actual order has yet to be given to the army, said the report.
The Israeli army reportedly will first pull out from Nablus and Jenin, and then from other neighboring cities.
Israel was under mounting U.S. pressure to withdraw from the Palestinian areas on Tuesday when Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres met with U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington, who said that Israel's military operations made it difficult for the U. S. to maintain its international anti-terrorism coalition.
During an earlier meeting with Peres, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell also asked Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian- ruled areas.
Peres said that Israeli troops would depart from the areas as soon as the Palestinian National Authority meets Israel's requirement to extradite those responsible for the killing of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi last week.
Following the incident, Israeli troops and tanks invaded six Palestinian towns in the West Bank in a widest military offensive against the Palestinian territories since the 1993 Oslo peace accords signed between the two sides.
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