Israel Halts Plan to Transfer Control of West Bank Towns

Israel declared Wednesday that it would not hand over any more West Bank towns to Palestinian security forces until their government moves to disarm militant groups.

Exacerbating growing tensions between the two sides, a pair of Palestinian teenagers who were among a rock-throwing crowd were shot to death by Israeli troops in the West Bank, the military said. Such deadly confrontations were common at the height of fighting over the last 4 1/2 years but have become rare since a truce was struck in February.

The Israeli army said the shooting in the village of Beit Lakia, five miles west of Ramallah, occurred after an army patrol was surrounded by a crowd of about 300 Palestinians, some of them hurling chunks of concrete.

A military spokesman said the soldiers opened fire with live ammunition after unspecified nonlethal measures -- a term the army generally uses to describe stun grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets -- failed to disperse the crowd.

“It was an absolutely last resort, used because this was a life-threatening situation,” said the spokesman, who requested anonymity.

The confrontation erupted during a demonstration against the barrier Israel is building in and around the West Bank. Palestinian medics and witnesses identified the slain teenagers as cousins, ages 14 and 15.

Earlier, Palestinians angrily protested the Israeli decision to suspend troop pullbacks from Palestinian towns. At a summit in Egypt three months ago, Israel pledged to hand the control of five West Bank communities to Palestinian security forces.

Israel has followed through on two of those, Jericho and Tulkarm. On Wednesday, it put an indefinite hold on the transfer of Kalkilya, Ramallah and Bethlehem.

Palestinian officials voiced disappointment over the decision, which was made at a meeting of Israel’s security Cabinet, a small group of senior officials.

“The Israeli government is looking for excuses, however false, to avoid carrying out its commitments,” said Nabil abu Rudaineh, spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. “This does not benefit efforts to build confidence.”

Israeli media reports said there was no formal vote on freezing the hand-overs but that the group had followed a recommendation by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz.

In recent weeks, Israel has been voicing increasingly sharp criticism of Abbas, saying he has not moved to rein in militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

How to deal with the militant organizations is a central point of contention between Israel and Abbas. The Palestinian leader has extracted a conditional pledge of calm from the main militant factions and has said repeatedly that he wants to use dialogue rather than force to prevent a resumption of attacks.

Abbas has said that any attempt to seize the militants’ weapons could lead to civil war, a view echoed Wednesday by his security chief, Rashid abu Shbak.

“We are not going to let anyone push us into such a confrontation,” Abu Shbak told reporters in Gaza City. “The weapons of the resistance will not be touched.”

A senior Israeli official said no move toward a resumption of negotiations would be possible until Abbas’ government undertook a wide-ranging crackdown.

“It’s regrettable, but there’s no way we can progress if they don’t dismantle the terrorist organizations,” said Raanan Gissin, an official in the office of Prime Minister’s Ariel Sharon.

“These groups are a major threat to [Abbas], to his rule, to the rule of law.... They’re holding a loaded gun to his head,” Gissin said.

Although Palestinian militants have not carried out a suicide attack in Israel in more than two months, several would-be bombers have been apprehended recently, and Israeli officials say that many more plots are being foiled.

Israel has complained bitterly of late about what it calls a revolving door when it comes to militants jailed by Palestinian authorities. A member of Islamic Jihad who was killed Monday in a West Bank shootout with Israeli forces had escaped from a Palestinian jail. An Israeli soldier also died in the shootout.

Although the January election of Abbas to replace the late Yasser Arafat was generally interpreted as reflecting Palestinian wishes for a negotiated peace with Israel, the militant groups still have a large popular following, particularly in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians today are holding elections for seats on 84 municipal councils in the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas, which triumphed in an initial round of local voting in Gaza in January, was expected to again pose a strong challenge to Fatah, the party of Abbas and Arafat.

Among impoverished Palestinians, Hamas wins plaudits for its charity work. The group’s popularity is also greatly enhanced by the perception that it is free of the corruption that has long riddled Fatah’s rule.