OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 19 August 2003 — Israeli and Palestinian security officials failed to agree in a Sunday night meeting on terms for the handover of four West Bank cities to Palestinian security control, officials from both sides said. They said that talks would continue over the next few days to finalize terms for the handover of Jericho, Qalqiliya, Tulkarm and Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian government.

The disagreement was yet another setback for a US-backed “road map” to peace aimed at ending three years of violence and preparing the ground for the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005.

“The meeting failed to reach a timetable of Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian cities,” said Elias Zananiri, Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan’s spokesman. Israel had said it was prepared to hand over security control of Jericho and Qalqiliya as early as this week, and Tulkarm and Ramallah by the end of the month.

One of the main stumbling blocks, Zananiri said, was over a refusal by Israel to remove checkpoints around the Palestinian cities slated to be handed over. Israel says the checkpoints are vital to prevent Palestinian bombers from infiltrating into its cities. Palestinians say they are collective punishment which causes economic and humanitarian hardship to innocent civilians.

“The Israeli side promised to raise the Palestinian demands to higher levels and they will come back on Tuesday with an answer,” Zananiri said. An Israeli military official confirmed the sides “did not reach agreement”, but said there would be more meetings over the next few days.

Meanwhile, Palestinians officials said yesterday they were near agreement with Israel on the fate of wanted militants, a key sticking point in plans to pull back Israeli forces from more West Bank towns. Palestinian Security Minister Mohammed Dahlan told reporters that the issue of the militants “is about to be resolved” in the coming days.

He did not provide details but said the agreement would guarantee the militants’ safety: “It is the duty of the Palestinian Authority to protect our brothers who carried out resistance operations during the uprising.”

The peace process continued to be dogged by unrest on the ground, including the shooting of a 17-year-old Israeli girl late Sunday near a West Bank settlement in an attack claimed by the renegade Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.

The group, which is loosely affiliated to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement, has made conflicting statements about its adherence to the ongoing truce. Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas was due to meet with factions later this week to try to shore up the truce which has been threatening to unravel after twin bombs last Tuesday in retaliation for a deadly Israeli Army raid on Nablus.

“We will hold several sessions with the factions to assess the truce so far,” said Culture Minister Ziad Abu Amr, who also heads the team in charge of liaison between the factions and the Cabinet.