When and how Israeli forces in Hebron will be redeployed will not be decided until Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu takes office.
The outgoing government of Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Sunday that it would not act on carrying out the redeployment, which was expected to take place by mid-June.
In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the Cabinet reiterated its commitment of the peace accords with the Palestinians, including the planned redeployment in Hebron, but said that it would let the government being formed by Netanyahu decide how to proceed.
“The matter will be for the incoming government to deal with, based upon Israel’s international commitment tot he Interim Agreement, and to the status of the understanding reached with the Palestinian Authority,” the statement said.
Hebron is the last of seven West Bank population centers to be handed over to Palestinian self-rule under the terms of the agreement signed in September in Washington.
Israel postponed the redeployment, originally scheduled to take place in March, after a series of Hamas suicide bombings in February and March.
Israel postponed the redeployment, originally scheduled to take place in March, after a series of Hamas suicide bombings in February and March.
The Peres government reached an understanding with the Palestinian Authority to carry out the redeployment from 85 percent of Hebron after Israel’s elections. Israeli troops would remain in the districts where some 40 Jewish settlers live.
In preparation for the expected movement of Israeli troops, international observers began to arrive in the town in mid-May.
But over the weekend, Likud Knesset member Uzi Landau said that it was likely that the new government would delay the redeployment in Hebron.
However, Netanyahu was quoted as saying that only he would decide what would be done there.
Israeli security sources were quoted as warning that any delay in the redeployment could lead to an increase in terror attacks.
Meanwhile, the head of the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security agency, expressed satisfaction with the level of cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian security forces in combating terror. Reporting to the Cabinet, Ami Ayalon said the cooperation had helped security forces thwart dozens of planned terrorist attacks in recent months.
Such cooperation also was key in last month’s capture of Hassan Salameh, the No. 2 man in Hamas’ military wing, he said.
Salameh, who helped plan and carry out the Feb. 25 suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Ashkelon and the March 3 bombing in Jerusalem, was apprehended after Israeli soldiers stopped his car at a checkpoint in Hebron. The three attacks claimed the lives of 46 victims and wounded scores more.
The soldiers shot and wounded Salameh, but he managed to escape.
Palestinian security forces helped in his capture later at the hospital to which he had fled.
Ayalon said Salameh’s interrogation had helped security forces uncover much of the military infrastructure of Hamas in the West Bank. As a result, Israeli forces apprehended eight Hamas terrorists and Palestinian security forces captured six.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
