This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/8119571.stm

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Israel eases West Bank security US hails Israeli checkpoint steps
(about 21 hours later)
Israel is handing over greater responsibility for security in four West Bank cities, including Bethlehem and Ramallah, to Palestinian forces. The US has welcomed Israeli steps to ease movement in the occupied West Bank, as Palestinian forces have been given greater autonomy there.
But Israeli officials say their troops would still go into the four cities when they think it necessary. Israel's military says it has removed six checkpoints controlling Palestinian movement in the past month.
On Thursday, Israel also ended night-time restrictions on Palestinian forces in four West Bank cities.
The moves seem aimed at boosting the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, correspondents say.
The developments come as Israel has been under pressure from the US to end settlement activity in the West Bank, as part of attempts to kick start stalled peace negotiations.
The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said the checkpoints, near the major Palestinian cities of Ramallah, Qalqilya, Nablus and Jericho, were no longer permanently staffed.
But it says checkpoint infrastructure remains and random checks have been taking place at some of them.
OCHA adds that some 600 obstacles around the West Bank still impede Palestinians' movement.
Correspondents say that Palestinians will greet the move with caution, as checkpoints removed in the past have sometimes been reinstated, or new ones added.
The security forces of the Palestinian Authority have been taking growing responsibility for preventing militant activity in the West Bank, as part of commitments under existing peace agreements.
While they maintain day-to-day security in several Palestinian towns, Israel still at times carries out raids.
Until Thursday, Israel limited night time activities of Palestinian forces in the cities of Qalqilya, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jericho.
It said they would now be able to "operate freely", although Israeli forces would still enter the cities "in cases of urgent need".
They would also continue to maintain control of roads outside them.They would also continue to maintain control of roads outside them.
The move seems aimed at boosting the position of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who controls the West Bank, correspondents say. A senior Palestinian official dismissed the move as a sham, and called for an end to all Israeli incursions, the Reuters news agency reported.
But a senior Palestinian official dismissed it as a sham, and called for an end to all Israeli incursions, the Reuters news agency reported.
Israel will partially withdraw from Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Jericho and Ramallah as well.
Israeli forces would continue to operate in the West Bank "in order to thwart terrorist operations", the Associated Press reported Israeli officials as saying.
Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967, settling more than 450,000 Jews in the area.Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967, settling more than 450,000 Jews in the area.
OCHA says the network of checkpoints and other obstacles is "only one of several layers of a complex system of access restrictions" on Palestinians.
Some Israeli measures taken in the past year have resulted in Palestinian land loss and have served to further entrench the system of restrictions, the UN agency says.