Israel to limit incursions in four West Bank cities

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Thursday it would curtail its military activities in four West Bank cities to
help a US-backed move to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The announcement, that will give Palestinian security forces a free hand to operate in the cities, coincided with
efforts by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ease tensions with US President Barack Obama over
stalled peacemaking with the Palestinians.
A senior Palestinian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, dismissed the move as a public
relations sham. He said Israel should halt incursions without exception.
Israel has rebuffed US calls for a halt to Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank. On Monday
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak will meet Obamas Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, in Washington to
try to narrow differences. As of today, Palestinian security forces will be able to operate freely in the cities of
Qalqilya, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jericho, an Israeli military official said.
The official said Israeli troops would still be able to operate within those cities, battlegrounds during a
Palestinian uprising that began in 2000, in cases of urgent security need. Abbass Western-backed
government is based in Ramallah.
More than 1,600 security men loyal to Abbas have undergone US-funded training since January 2008. They are
derided as collaborators by the Hamas fighters who seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after routing
Abbass forces there.
Israel has slowly come to back the US training programme as a test of Abbass ability to rein in militants, as
demanded in a 2003 peace road map for establishing a Palestinian state.
Abbas has ruled out resuming peace talks with Israel until it halts settlement activity, also required under the road
map.
An Israeli security source said the army would act as little as possible to allow the Palestinians to take more
initiative and responsibility over their own security.
Israeli forces would stay out of the four cities except in circumstances of 'ticking bombs, or a planned attack
against Israelis, the Israeli security source said.
The senior Palestinian security official countered: If there is to be a change, they (Israeli troops) should stop the
incursions, not enter under the pretext of 'ticking bombs.
The changes set out by Israel fell far short of Palestinian demands it pull its forces back to positions they held
before the outbreak of the uprising.
Israel has been reducing its presence in parts of the West Bank, where anti-Israeli violence has declined. But the
army still carries out routine patrols and occasional arrest raids.
Under US pressure, Israel has taken down some West Bank checkpoints, including one at the entrance to
Jericho. But hundreds more remain, restricting Palestinian travel and trade.
Israel says the changes were meant to bolster Abbas in his power struggle with Hamas, which won a 2006
Palestinian election but is shunned by Western powers for refusing to renounce violence and for rejecting Israels
right to exist.
Israel informed the Palestinians it would limit army operations in the four cities at a meeting of senior officers on
Wednesday. A senior Western security source said other West Bank cities could be added later.
US and Israeli security officials have voiced increasing confidence in Abbass security forces, which carried out
deadly raids against Hamas militants in Qalqilya earlier this month.
Officials said the changes agreed by Israel would give those forces greater freedom of movement around the
clock. Until now, Israel limited those movements, particularly at night.