Arafat Cancels Orders From Israeli Occupation : Mideast: Gaza and Jericho revert to laws that were in effect before 1967. PLO chairman’s authority is questioned, but Palestinians hail move.

Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and head of the Palestinians’ interim government, Tuesday canceled most of the military orders issued by Israel over its 27-year occupation of the Gaza Strip and this West Bank town.

In a move that both asserted Palestinian authority in the two regions and promised to affect everything from retail sales to taxation, from traffic regulations to street crime, Arafat restored all the laws in force prior to the 1967 Middle East War and Israel’s capture of Gaza and the West Bank.

Although Israeli officials questioned Arafat’s authority in issuing so sweeping an order, saying that he needs their approval for all legislative actions, Palestinians hailed the move as another step in their liberation from an occupation that pervaded almost all aspects of their lives for a generation.

“Establishing our own laws is an essential part of our emancipation,” said Saeb Erekat, a political scientist nominated to serve on the interim Palestinian Authority. “Legally, most of the 2,500 military orders issued by the Israelis became null and void with their withdrawal last week, and so Arafat re-established the legal framework for everyday life.”

The Palestinian Authority, which will administer the Gaza Strip and eventually most of the West Bank under the autonomy agreement with Israel, will soon be faced with the task of adopting a basic law and then extensive civil and criminal codes after elections planned for October.

Some of the military regulations that have governed life here were preserved as part of the agreements establishing Palestinian self-government and the economic relations between Israel and the Palestinians.

But Arafat restored 1967 Jordanian law in Jericho and Egyptian law in Gaza, both to provide a familiar legal framework for the start of Palestinian autonomy and to “give people the sense of being masters in their own home,” Erekat said. “It’s better to have some legislative gaps than to have Israeli military orders plugging them.”

Freij abu Midan, a Gaza lawyer and another member of the Palestinian Authority, described the move as “the first step toward consolidating our national authority on the ground in Gaza and Jericho.”

But Abu Midan added that “every day will bring scores of new questions, especially to the police, for which the law will have no immediate answer. We are feeling our way legally as well as politically.”

In other developments, the Israeli military commander in the West Bank closed Jericho for 24 hours to all but its 15,000 residents in cooperation with the new Palestinian police commander, who reportedly asked for a “breather” to get a firmer grip on the town and to brief his officers on regulations governing Israelis traveling through it.

Israel contends that its agreement with the PLO enables Jewish settlers to carry weapons in Palestinian-governed areas of Jericho and the Gaza Strip. Palestinians assert that Israelis coming into the autonomous areas may not carry weapons, and Palestinian police in Jericho briefly detained five armed settlers Tuesday before releasing them, reportedly with apologies.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, visiting new Israeli positions along the border with Gaza, at once praised the cooperation between Palestinian police and his forces in the hand-over of the region and again warned Arafat that Israel will not turn over administration of more of the West Bank until it sees how self-government works in Gaza and Jericho.

Still angered by the fiery rhetoric of Arafat’s recent speeches, Rabin told reporters at Nahal Oz on the Gaza border:

“We will insist that it be clear the continuation of the process beyond Gaza and Jericho will be tied to the Palestinians’ proving their ability to fulfill their commitments in Gaza and in Jericho and to a pointed reaffirmation of this commitment.”

In taking his first close look at Gaza since Israel handed the territory over to the Palestinians, Rabin stood a few yards from a sign identifying the area as Palestinian-ruled and informing Israelis they need special permits to enter.

After touring the fence of electronic sensors going up between Israel and the Gaza Strip, Rabin said he was pleased about the way the turnover had been executed.

“I had serious fears about everything relating to the way . . . in which things would be done,” Rabin said. “ . . . (But) on the main issues a relationship was created . . . that allowed for the correct, smooth transition.

“I think this is an opening that gives hope, allows an opportunity for the transition . . . to orderly control by the Palestinians if they indeed fully use their capabilities.”