JERUSALEM – Israel has sought to link a pledged withdrawal from West
Bank cities to a cessation of attacks in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli officials said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has sought to delay
any military withdrawal from Palestinian Authority areas in the West Bank
pending an end to mortar and other attacks on Israeli communities in the
Gaza Strip. Despite a PA announcement of a ceasefire, the ruling Fatah
movement has continued attacks on Israeli civilian and military targets in
the Gaza Strip.
Officials said Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has ordered a delay to any
military withdrawal from Palestinian cities in the West Bank. The withdrawal
was meant to facilitate PA security control over such cities as Hebron,
Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and Tulkarm.
In the first stage, Israel offered to transfer control of Jericho,
Kalkilya and Tulkarm. But amid Palestinian attacks on Israeli communities in
the central Gaza Strip, Mofaz called off the withdrawal, scheduled for
Tuesday.
"This quiet is very fragile," Mofaz said. "An active Palestinian
operation is required to stop terror attacks and especially the mortar and
rocket fire."
Mofaz met PA security chief Mohammed Dahlan to discuss the transfer of
control. The two men failed to reach agreement on an Israeli pullout and
another session was scheduled for Feb. 3.
Officials said Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad were responsible for the
recent mortar and other attacks on Israeli targets in the Gaza Strip. On
Jan. 31, eight insurgency groups threatened to continue attacks on Israel
and the following day Fatah launched mortar strikes in the Gaza Strip.
The United States has urged Israel to begin a withdrawal from West Bank
cities by next week. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was scheduled
to hold talks with Israeli and PA leaders on resuming peace talks and
launching an Israeli pullout from the entire Gaza Strip and northern West
Bank.
But officials said the PA has sought guarantees that Israel would not
return to West Bank cities. They said the PA also wants Israel to withdraw
from areas around Palestinian cities.
"When we speak of pullbacks we mean a genuine withdrawal and not just
leaving the heart of our cities only to keep them surrounded from the
outside," Dahlan said. "We totally reject this."
On Wednesday, Egyptian security chief Omar Suleiman met with Sharon in
Jerusalem and invited the prime minister to a summit meeting with Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on
Tuesday in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm A Sheikh.
