Quds city, June 15, SPA -- Israel hopes to transfer the town of Jenin to Palestinian control soon so Palestinian forces can ensure calm in the area when Israel pulls out of four nearby communities in the northern West Bank this summer, Palestinian officials said Wednesday. Israel agreed during truce talks in February to transfer five mainly peaceful towns to Palestinian control, but has only handed over two of them, arguing that the Palestinians are not taking enough action against militants. Jenin was not one of the five on the list, according to a report of the Associated Press. The two sides discussed the Jenin handover during a security coordination meeting Tuesday night, Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa said. Israeli security officials confirmed the Jenin handover was discussed at the meeting. No timetable has been set. The meeting in Tel Aviv was the first in a series of talks intended to arrange an orderly Israeli pullout from Gaza and the northern West Bank. Israel had originally planned the pullout as a unilateral step but agreed to coordinate it after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas took power after Yasser Arafat's death last year.
