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Israel cancels bethlehem withdrawal Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011028/ts/israel_palestinians_1916.htmlhttp://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011028/ts/israel_palestinians_1916.html
Sunday October 28 5:10 AM ET
Israel Cancels Bethlehem Withdrawal
By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel was ready to pull its troops out of Bethlehem Sunday if Palestinian gunfire stops, a senior official said, but Palestinians insisted that the withdrawal must be unconditional.
In violence Sunday, an Israeli soldier was killed in a drive-by shooting inside Israel near the line with the West Bank, Israeli police and rescue workers said. An anonymous caller told The Associated Press that the Al Aqsa Brigade, affiliated with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, attacked an Israeli military vehicle, revenge for Saturday's killing of a Fatah activist in nearby Tulkarem.
Israel canceled a planned Saturday pullout from biblical Bethlehem, a test case for handing back the six West Bank towns the Israelis started taking over the day after Palestinians assassinated an Israel Cabinet minister Oct. 17. Israel said the Palestinians violated an agreement to stop all gunfire.
However, the Palestinians said that according to the deal worked out with U.S. mediation, the Israeli withdrawal was to be unconditional, and then Palestinian police were to move in and take control.
Exasperated U.S. officials refused to take sides. ``We regret what's happening, and we think both sides should try harder to get their act together,'' said Paul Patin, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv. The United States has repeatedly insisted that Israel pull its troops out of the six towns and stay out of Palestinian territory.
Israeli officials said the delay was temporary. ``If during the day we see that they enforce the cease-fire and they assume responsibility for the area, and there's no shooting and no attacks,'' said Raanan Gissin, spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, ``then in all likelihood the forces could leave tonight (Sunday).''
Meanwhile, Israeli tanks remained in position on the road leading to Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, marking the traditional birthplace of Jesus.
A meeting of security commanders set for Sunday to discuss procedures for Israel's pullback from the other towns was thrown into doubt because of the delay.
Palestinian Cabinet minister Ziad Abu-Zayyad said an Israeli pullout was a condition for a cease-fire. ``Continuation of the presence of the Israeli army around Palestinian cities and villages and refugee camps is a continuation of the provocation,'' he told Israel Army Radio.
After coming under stern U.S. pressure, Israel had agreed to leave Bethlehem and nearby Beit Jalla late Saturday.
Israel said it suspended the pullout after Palestinian gunmen fired on Israeli troops near the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem and at a Bethlehem-Beit Jalla intersection. Officials also cited Palestinian gunfire Saturday into Gilo, a Jewish neighborhood built on disputed land on Jerusalem's outskirts.
Palestinian officials said the delay showed Israel wasn't serious about peace.
``It was supposed to take place tonight, but as you see it has not been implemented,'' Arafat said late Saturday. ``It's a part of their policy not to achieve real peace.''
An official statement from the Palestinians said the delay was ``a very dangerous, a very serious escalation and it reflects that the Israeli government is insisting on escalating the situation and sabotaging all international efforts that have been made to calm the situation.''
Israeli officials had said Palestinians must enforce a full cease-fire declared Sept. 26 and ensure security for the withdrawals to take place in the towns, which include Jenin, Qalqilya, Ramallah and Tulkarem.
In Tulkarem on Saturday, a Fatah activist was killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli tanks, Palestinian doctors and officials said.
An army statement said the slain Palestinian, Feras Jaber, 24, had taken part in attacks on Israelis, including the killing of two Tel Aviv restaurant owners who were dragged from a Tulkarem restaurant and shot dead in the street on Jan. 23.
The Israeli incursions represented the most extensive Israeli military action in 13 months of fighting. They left 38 Palestinians dead, failed to net all Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi's killers and angered the Bush administration, which worried that further unrest would undermine support among Arab nations for its anti-terrorism campaign.
Since fighting erupted more than a year ago, 728 people have been killed on the Palestinian side and 187 on the Israeli side.
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