Israel withdraws from 6.1 percent of West Bank, giving Palestinians more control

BEITUNIA, West Bank -- Israel withdrew troops from 6.1 percent of the West Bank today, giving the Palestinians control over roughly 40 percent of the disputed territory and fulfilling a key obligation of Israeli-Palestinian peace accords.

The transfer gives the Palestinians populated swaths of land bordering cities already under Palestinian control, creating the territorial contiguity Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat needs for future statehood.

In 5.1 percent of the West Bank being transferred, the Palestinians were already in charge of civilian institutions but were also being given security control. The rest of the 6.1 percent was going from full Israeli control to full Palestinian control.

The withdrawal maps received final approval from Israel's Cabinet on Sunday, and the transfer was set for today.

Palestinian police drove into the newly transferred town of Beitunia, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, in open jeeps today, firing their rifles in celebration.

Israeli army officers shook hands with Palestinian security officers and handed them copies of the maps outlining the handover. Soldiers used yellow and brown blocks to mark the new boundary.

Similar ceremonies were taking place near the West Bank cities of Hebron and Nablus.

''This is a happy day, that I was able to live to see the day when my village comes under Palestinian control,'' said Mohammed Rajoub, 71, from the Dura village near Hebron.

Beitunia residents set off firecrackers, honked car horns and waved to the police. ''We welcome the brave ones,'' said Mohammed al-Khalidi, an elderly boy scout leader in Beitunia who greeted the policemen as they drove into his town.

The Palestinians had demanded suburbs of Jerusalem, claimed by both sides as their capital, for the withdrawal that was originally to have taken place Jan. 20.

A compromise gives the Palestinians villages near but not bordering Jerusalem -- a point not lost on residents of the areas handed over.

''We no longer have to feel that we are going from one country to another as we travel from Ramallah to Beitunia,'' said Ghalib Bader, a 45-year-old bakery owner. ''God willing, we will connect to Jerusalem.''

The withdrawal came hours after two separate shootings Monday night in which a Palestinian woman was killed and her husband and three Israelis were injured.

The Israelis were injured, one seriously, after gunmen in a car opened fire as they were delivering holiday baskets for the Jewish festival of Purim to soldiers near Hebron. Israeli soldiers set up roadblocks following the attack and later opened fire on a Palestinian car, killing the woman and seriously injuring her husband.

The Israeli army said in a statement today that the soldiers opened fire after the vehicle's driver tried to run over one of the soldiers at the checkpoint.

Col. Awni Nache, a Palestinian security official in charge of the Hebron area, said it appeared as though soldiers opened fire on the Palestinian car to avenge the shooting of the three Israelis.

''Why would a husband and wife not stop at a checkpoint?'' he said.

Israeli settlers complained that the withdrawal in the Beitunia area, which would give the Palestinians full control over areas one mile from a main Israeli highway and from the Jewish settlement Givat Zeev, endangered their security.

A bypass road through the area leading to central Israel was to remain in Israeli control. Soldiers tacked up signs telling motorists that they were entering a Palestinian-controlled area.

An Israeli woman was slightly injured today when stones were thrown at her car in the southern West Bank, the army said.

Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority were on high security alert for today's arrival of Pope John Paul II for a historic six-day Holy Land pilgrimage.

The redeployment completes a three-part phase in a series of land transfers under interim peace accords. There was some dispute over how much land the Palestinians now control. Palestinian officials put the number at 42.9 percent; Israel said it was 39.8 percent, and U.S. officials revised previous estimates to place the figure at 40 percent.

The sides disagree over which areas should be considered the West Bank when calculating percentages.

Israel is to implement one more land transfer under interim accords, scheduled for June.

Negotiators were to resume talks today outside Washington over a framework agreement for a final peace treaty, slated for May. The treaty itself is due in September.