OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 18 August 2003 — The Israeli Army on Saturday arrested an Islamic Jihad leader during a swoop in Qalqilya even as the Jewish state promised to withdraw its troops from four Palestinian cities.
Palestinian security sources said Azem Nazzel was arrested in the swoop overnight.
Islamic Jihad has vowed to avenge Israel’s killing last week of its Hebron cell commander. Palestinian officials say continued Israeli raids for wanted activists have weakened the truce.
Last week’s violence, including two bombings in retaliation for Israel’s killing of two Hamas leaders in a Nablus raid, frayed the unilateral cease-fire that Palestinian hard-line groups declared June 29.
Yesterday, Israel said the Palestinian Authority had boosted efforts to rein in hard-liners, laying the groundwork for the handover of four West Bank cities. Israeli and Palestinian officers were to meet later to work out details of the transfer this week of Jericho and Qalqilya, followed by pullbacks later this month from Tulkarm and Ramallah, the seat of Palestinian government.
“In the last 48 hours, the Palestinians have been making efforts to stop and prevent attacks,” a senior Israeli official quoted Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash, chief of military intelligence, as telling the weekly Cabinet meeting.
Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr said Palestinians expected the Israeli pullback from Qalqilya and Jericho to take place today. But other Palestinian and Israeli officials said no precise time had been set. Much will depend, both sides said, on whether agreement is reached on how to ensure that Palestinians wanted by Israel in the four cities due to be handed over to Palestinian security control are kept under the thumb of the Palestinian Authority.
“We will do (the pullbacks) gradually, in a sober manner — very carefully and with conditions: dealing with the wanted (Palestinians) and actions against the infrastructure of terror, and on condition that there will be no attacks,” Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told reporters.
Israel, seconded by Washington, has called repeatedly on Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas to disarm and dismantle militant groups as mandated by a US-backed peace plan and ruled out significant pullbacks from occupied land until then. But Palestinian officials said that Mofaz relented on that demand as part of the handover deal he reached on Friday.
