Israeli media said Dahlan committed himself to collect arms from Palestinian groups and identify their sources of funding

GAZA CITY, August 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Palestinian officials said Friday, August 15, Israel pledged to withdraw from four West Bank cities, including Ramallah, while Israeli media cited a raft of attached conditions including an end to attacks and a detailed Palestinian plan on fighting "terror" and dealing with the issue of individuals wanted by Israel.

Israel is to hand over four West Bank cities to Palestinian security control within the next two weeks, a spokesman for Palestinian Minister of State for Security Affairs Mohammed Dahlan told AFP.

"At the meeting between Dahlan and (Israeli Defense Minister Shaul) Mofaz, it was agreed that Israel will withdraw from four Palestinian cities in the next two weeks," Elias Zananieri said, naming them as Areha (Jericho), Ramallah, Qalqilya and Tulkarem.

The agreement was reached during a two-hour meeting in occupied Jerusalem between Dahlan and Mofaz, their second meeting in 24 hours.

The two had met late Thursday, August 14, in a bid to rescue a ceasefire declared by Palestinian factions in late June.

Senior Israeli and PA commanders are scheduled to meet Sunday, August 17, to set a timetable for transferring security responsibility in the two cities, reported the Israeli Haaretz daily on Saturday, August 16.

It added that under the deal, the Palestinian side will submit a security plan for regaining control over Ramallah and Tulkarem, which Israel will consider over the next 10 days.

Zananieri refused to say whether the two sides had discussed a Palestinian request for President Yasser Arafat to be allowed to briefly leave his besieged Ramallah headquarters to mourn the death of his sister in Gaza.

Although Haaretz reported that the new deal will allow Arafat to make a one-time visit to the Gaza Strip before returning to Ramallah, Israeli officials said they were still mulling a brief lift of the 19-month-old siege.

Israeli Conditions

But a report on Israeli public radio cited a set of Israeli conditions attached to the withdrawal including an end to anti-Israeli attacks as well as a detailed Palestinian plan on fighting "terror" and dealing with the complex issue of individuals wanted by Israel.

The Israeli Army radio said Dahlan had committed himself to collecting weapons from Palestinian groups and identifying their sources of funding while the Israeli Channel One TV said he has guaranteed that he will prevent "wanted militants" in the cities from carrying out attacks on Israel.

Dahlan’s spokesman Zananieri refused to confirm or comment on either report.

As always, the Israeli side threatened the deal will be called off if there are any "terror attacks" next week.

Mofaz and Dahlan last met two weeks ago but the meeting ended in failure after Israel refused to pull troops out of the West Bank cities of Al-Khalil (Hebron) and Ramallah, offering only the much smaller towns of Jericho and Qalqilya.

The apparent compromise came after Dahlan met Washington's chief Middle East peace monitor, John Wolf, earlier Friday to urge more Israeli action to build confidence on the ground.

Pro Quo

In a related development, an Egyptian daily reported Saturday, August 16, that Cairo will continue its brokering of a seven-week-old truce by Palestinian resistance groups only if Israel lives up to its side of the bargain.

"If Israel frees Palestinian prisoners, lifts its blockade of the Palestinian leadership and people, and withdraws from Palestinian towns, Egypt will be fully ready to send a delegation to consolidate and prolong the ceasefire," the government-owned Al-Ahram reported quoting an official source.

Egypt was instrumental in convincing Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, to declare their truce on June 29.

The daily had reported Friday that a senior Egyptian delegation was preparing to return to the Palestinian territories in a bid to shore up the ceasefire after the Israeli killing of an Islamic Jihad leader Thursday prompted vows of retaliation.