MIDDLE EAST: In a boost to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Israel removed a roadblock yesterday at the northern end of Jericho, enabling residents to travel freely to the rest of the West Bank, and handed the town back to Palestinian control.
But in an illustration of the deep distrust which still exists between the two sides as a result of 4½ years of fighting, last-minute disagreements over the signing of documents to formalise the handover took several hours to resolve.
To the south of Jericho, Israel also altered travel restrictions, with troops only inspecting cars leaving the oasis town and not those entering it.
Israel has maintained control of the main Jordan Valley highway, which is used by Israeli motorists.
Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who lives in Jericho, said that Palestinians were hoping that, through peace and negotiations, things would change.
Jericho is the first of five West Bank towns - all reoccupied by Israel after the outbreak of the intifada - which Ariel Sharon and Mr Abbas agreed would be handed back to the Palestinians when they met in Egypt last month. However, a series of disagreements over security issues and the scope of the Israeli pull-back has delayed the start of the handovers for several weeks.
Jericho has been the quietest of the main West Bank towns during the intifada and Israeli troops have made only occasional forays into the town itself. But the pictures of troops taking down Israeli flags at the northern checkpoint and the sight of a Palestinian flag being raised at a newly-manned Palestinian checkpoint at the entrance to the town will assist Mr Abbas in portraying the handover as evidence that his call for an end to violence is beginning to pay dividends.
He is currently trying to persuade militant groups, gathered in Cairo, to formalise a tacit ceasefire they agreed to more than a month ago.
According to the terms of the handover, the Palestinians have promised to confiscate illegal weapons and Israel has agreed to review the remaining two roadblocks around the town in a month. The Israeli military released a statement yesterday saying that the continued handover of towns to the Palestinians depended on their commitment to a "joint fight against terrorist activity".
Tulkarm is the next West Bank town due to be turned over to Palestinian control. Bethlehem, Qalqilya and Ramallah are meant to follow, but with the negotiations over Jericho - seemingly the least problematic of the towns - having taken so long, there is no guarantee that the two sides will stick to a timetable.
Before the intifada, hundreds of Israelis made nightly visits to a casino in Jericho, which served as a major source of income for the Palestinians. But the building was damaged in the fighting and was later closed for a time.
Despite yesterday's handover, the casino will remain off-limits to Israelis, with the army keeping in place a ban on Israelis entering Jericho.