Israel hands over West Bank land to Palestinians

MAHANEH YOSEF, West Bank, Jan 5: Cheering Palestinians hoisted their flag today over a former Israeli military camp that passed into their control following a deal that ended a prolonged deadlock over West Bank land transfers, reports AFP.

Under pouring rain, plain-clothes Palestinian police, shouting "Allah al-Akbhar" (God is Great), entered the rundown camp about 15 km from the northern West Bank town of Nablus after a convoy of Israeli jeeps and military vehicles evacuated the area.

Senior Israeli military officers handed over documents transferring control of the site to Palestinian officials in a symbolic ceremony the day after the two sides signed a deal on the long-overdue transfer of five per cent of the West Bank.

Israel is handing over two percent of the territory to total Palestinian control and transferring civilian authority over another three percent where the Jewish state will retain security control.

Despite Tuesday's deal, Israel and the Palestinians remain deeply divided over a number of core issues that have to be resolved if they are to reach a February deadline for a framework peace accord.

Mahaneh Yosef, a barbed-wire encircled camp with a handful of empty buildings, was one of six bases to be evacuated by the army, although four are now just empty fields.

Shlomo Dror, spokesman for the coordinator of Israeli activities in the Palestinian territories, said Yosef and another camp near Jenin in the northern West Bank were the only sites with buildings.

"They are not going to be military places. They will be Palestinian headquarters for civilian administration," he said.

"We've been ready to give these buildings for the last month and a half. We evacuated them about a month ago. There were just a few soldiers left to look after the places."

Wednesday's handover, the second of three outlined in the September Sharm el-Sheikh peace accord, was supposed to have taken place on November 15 but was held up after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat refused to sign the withdrawal maps.