RAMALLAH, West Bank (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Israeli tanks rumbled out of Palestinian-ruled Ramallah on Wednesday, signaling an end to the two-week-old reoccupation of parts of the West Bank city which had drawn sharp international criticism. (Read photo caption below) Tanks, armored personnel carriers and jeeps moved through the streets of northern Ramallah under the cover of darkness in the early hours of Wednesday morning, residents said.
Residents of the Ramallah districts occupied by Israeli forces had been under curfew throughout most of the occupation. But they braved rain and wind to watch the pullout begin at around 1:00 a.m.
There were no immediate reports of a withdrawal from Palestinian-ruled areas in the western part of Ramallah, but Israeli occupation army sources said occupation troops would be taken out of the city throughout the night.
The sources said they expected the pullout to end shortly before dawn on Wednesday.
Ramallah was one of six West Bank cities partially reoccupied by Israel after leftist Palestinian Resistance men assassinated a far-right Israeli cabinet minister on October 17 in revenge for Israel's slaying of their leader.
Under heavy international pressure, Israel pulled its troops out of Bethlehem and neighboring Beit Jala last week and left the Palestinian-ruled city of Qalqilya on Monday after reaching what it said were truce agreements with local commanders.
Israel's War Ministry said the occupation army would maintain its stranglehold around Ramallah after the withdrawal.
PHOTO CAPTION:
An Israeli tank is on position in the West Bank City of Ramallah November 6, 2001. Three Palestinians and an Israeli were killed in a gunfight that coincided with talk in Israel of pulling out soon from another Palestinian city and abandoning an internationally condemned tactic of incursion. (Osama Silwadi/Reuters)