UNITED NATIONS, June 18: Israelis and Palestinians are “slowly and not without difficulty” moving to coordinate implementation of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the northern West Bank, the senior United Nations political affairs officer told the Security Council on Friday.

In his regular monthly briefing, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast told the council that those meetings and talks scheduled in the next few days between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas were indicative of a hopeful trend since the beginning of the year.

Yet renewed violence and the low level of mutual trust continue to work against progress. Mr Prendergast noted that in Israel, opponents of disengagement still voice their opposition to the planned withdrawal.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority still faces a number of serious internal challenges, which have deepened partly as a result of the Authority’s efforts to institute comprehensive security reform.