Israel proposes troop withdrawal

JERUSALEM -- Israel has proposed withdrawing troops from some Palestinian areas in the West Bank to test the ability of Palestinian security to prevent attacks on civilians, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Sunday.\n"We have no interest in staying in those places where the Palestinians can prove that they can take control," Peres told Israel Radio. The proposal was made at Israeli-Palestinian talks Saturday night as part of an effort to find ways of easing the tough restrictions placed on Palestinians in the West Bank.\nIsrael's army has occupied seven of the eight main Palestinian cities and towns in the West Bank for the past month, keeping hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in their houses under a rolling curfew.\nPeres did not specify from where troops might be withdrawn, but Army Radio said the forces could withdraw from Hebron and Bethlehem as early as Tuesday if those areas remain quiet.\nThe Palestinians say their security forces can't re-establish control until after the Israeli forces pull out. Many Palestinian security force buildings have been damaged or destroyed in Israeli attacks.\n"The key to breaking the circle of violence begins with the Israeli withdrawal from all the Palestinian cities," Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said.\nThe two sides plan to hold additional talks in coming days.\nMeanwhile, a bomb attack on a train injured the engineer as it was traveling south of Tel Aviv, in Yavneh, on Sunday morning.\nThe explosion went off on the tracks and damaged the engine of the passenger train, police said. The engineer was injured in the abdomen by the force of the blast, but the train was not derailed, police said.\nThe remote-control bomb weighed about 11 pounds, police said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but police said they believed Palestinian militants were responsible.\nAt the Saturday night talks, the meeting focused on efforts to boost the Palestinian economy, which has been shattered by nearly 22 months of fighting.\nThe two sides discussed the possible transfer of taxes that Israel has collected on behalf of the Palestinians, but has withheld since shortly after violence erupted in September 2000.\nIsrael is now holding about $600 million, saying it does not want to release the money to the Palestinian Authority because Israel believes it has been funding terror attacks. Israel will not transfer the funds until an international committee is set up to oversee how the money is handled, Peres said.\nBefore fighting began, an estimated 125,000 Palestinians crossed daily into Israel for work. Israel has since blocked most Palestinians from entering. Closures in the West Bank and curfews in individual towns have also prevented Palestinians from working in their own towns.\nPeres told the Palestinians that 7,000 work permits will be issued in the coming days as long as there were no attacks. It was not immediately clear if the attack on the train Sunday would change the Israeli decision.\nIsrael had considered issuing the work permits earlier this month but froze the plan when two attacks last week killed 12 Israelis.\nThe Israelis also told the Palestinians that the permitted fishing zone off the coast of the Gaza Strip would be extended, and a crossing point between Gaza and Israel would remain open for longer periods to allow more merchandise to pass through, Army Radio said.\nIn another development, the relatives of Palestinian militants were fighting an Israeli proposal, still under discussion, that could deport them from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip.\nIsrael on Friday demolished the homes of two suspects in attacks last week and arrested 21 adult male relatives of the alleged attackers. Israeli officials said the government was considering deporting those with direct links to the attackers.\nThe relatives petitioned the Supreme Court to block any deportation. However, they withdrew the petition Sunday after the court noted the Israeli government had not ordered anyone deported, and therefore could not rule on their petition unless such an order was given.\nMeanwhile, Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein has said that relatives of attackers could not be deported just because of their relation to the bombers.\nBut he left open the possibility that those who knew of the bomber's intentions could be deported, saying "the matter may be considered (for) persons directly involved."\nThe Haaretz newspaper reported that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would accept Rubinstein's finding.\nIsrael officials have been discussing the possibility of sending the relatives of suicide bombers to the Gaza Strip, away from their homes and jobs, as a form of punishment and as an attempt to deter future attacks.\nThe Israeli proposal has come under widespread international criticism.