Israel agreed on Friday night to hand over control of the West Bank cities of Jericho and Qalqilya to the Palestinian Authority and to allow Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian president, to leave his wrecked compound for the first time in over a year.
| "Oboy! Now I can change my underwear!" |
Israeli and Palestinian officials said that Friday night's agreement gave new life to a U.S.-led peace plan, which had floundered in recent weeks. Friday's pact also calls for talks to begin as early as Sunday for the handover, within two weeks, of two more significant cities: Tulkarem and Ramallah, the latter symbolic as the Palestinian administrative capital and home of Arafat. Israel also said it would allow greater freedom of movement for Palestinians around the West Bank, provided that the Palestinian Authority does more to guarantee Israelis' safety. "It's an effort on both sides," one senior Israeli official said. "It's an attempt to see how we can move this process forward."
| I'd guess it'll be haltingly, punctuated by explosions and flying meat... |
The proposals came at the end of an especially trying week for the U.S.-led peace plan, known as the road map, after two suicide bombings killed two Israelis and an Israeli raid in Hebron triggered further threats of revenge from Palestinian militants. The deal on Friday night would appear to tamp down some of that friction, especially if Arafat accepts the agreement for him to leave his compound and travel to Gaza — as a one-time trip — to visit the grave of his sister, who died this week, and return safely. But a Palestinian official said it was unlikely Arafat, who wants Israel to lift the travel ban on him entirely, will accept.
| He's afraid he's going to go to Gaza, somebody'll explode in Tel Aviv, and he won't be able to come back to his palatial residence in Ramallah... |
"Israel should allow the freedom of movement for President Arafat without any restrictions," the official said. |