June 29, 2003	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 28,1424

TEL AVIV, June 28: The Israeli army will withdraw on Monday from parts of the Gaza Strip under a deal reached with the Palestinian Authority, both public and army radio announced.

Citing “senior officials”, both reports said Israeli forces will also pull out of the West Bank town of Bethlehem, but did not say when.

The moves will come as part of a deal reached on Friday under which Israel will leave certain autonomous areas reoccupied after the Palestinian uprising broke out 33 months ago, with the Palestinian Authority agreeing to police those areas and guarantee that no anti-Israeli attacks are carried out from them.

The reports said Israeli officials will meet Palestinian counterparts on Sunday to discuss the details of the withdrawal from parts of the northern Gaza Strip. These were reoccupied recently following an outbreak of Palestinian rocket attacks on nearby Israeli targets, notably the town of Sderot.

Public radio added that “if the Palestinians do not honour their commitments and stop anti-Israeli attacks being organized from the sectors evacuated, the Israeli army will feel free to act against terrorist organizations”.—AFP