Israeli and Palestinian officials have agreed on an Israeli troop withdrawal in the Gaza Strip and Bethlehem.
According to the Israeli defence ministry, its forces will withdraw on the condition that "the Palestinian side takes responsibility to calm the security situation and reduce violence".
An aide to Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat said the withdrawal will "prepare the atmosphere" for troop pull-outs in other Palestinian areas. Mr Nabil Abu Rdeneh said both sides have agreed the withdrawal will be done in 48 hours.
The agreement was reached between Israeli defence minister Mr Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and Palestinian interior minister Mr Abdel Razak Yehiyeh. The planned withdrawal will mark the first time in months that talks between the sides have made progress.
"The talks are aimed at getting a ceasefire and reducing tension," Mr Ben-Eliezer said before the meeting. The minister told a cabinet meeting the number of Palestinian attacks against Israelis had decreased over the past week.
But he put the drop down to army operations and said there was no decline in Palestinian attempts to strike military and civilian targets.
PA