Israel has agreed to withdraw from the West Bank towns of Bethlehem and Beit Jala in the first phase of a withdrawal from re-occupied Palestinian territory. Israel yesterday announced it would begin a gradual withdrawal from sectors where calm had been restored.
An official, who was speaking after a meeting of Israel's security cabinet, said that the pullout would start over the weekend in sectors where calm had been restored.
Israeli troops went into the West Bank in a crackdown on suspected militants after a cabinet minister was assassinated last week. Israel has been coming under increasing international pressure to pull out of the six towns.
Three armed members of the radical Hamas movement were killed earlier today. They were killed as they tried to infiltrate a Jewish settlement in the north of the Gaza Strip.
