Military

DATE=7/7/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (L)

NUMBER=2-305137

BYLINE=SONJA PACE

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Palestinian security forces say they have arrested a would-be suicide bomber in the Gaza Strip, but details remain sketchy. And while a senior Israeli official praised Palestinian efforts to handle security, the two sides remain far apart on the issue of prisoner releases. V-O-A's Sonja Pace reports from Jerusalem.

TEXT: Palestinian security officials say they arrested a young woman in an area of the Gaza Strip often used by Palestinians to sneak into Israel. The search for the woman began after her family alerted police to a note she left at home outlining her plans.

In southern Gaza, Palestinian security forces arrested several militants who they say were planting an explosive device on a road used by the Israeli military.

Palestinian security forces are in the process of consolidating their control over areas from which the Israeli military withdrew last week. Israel has made it clear that it will only withdraw from additional areas of Gaza and the West Bank if the Palestinians show they are capable of providing security there.

Israel's coordinator for the Palestinian Territories, Major-General Amos Gilad, told Army Radio that the Palestinians had begun dealing with those planning terror attacks.

Both sides have taken some actions to defuse tensions and implement steps outlined in the so-called international Roadmap toward peace. But major hurdles remain to be overcome.

The three main Palestinian factions have agreed to halt attacks against Israel for the next three months, but they are demanding that Israel release the thousands of Palestinians being held in Israeli jails.

On Sunday, the Israeli cabinet approved a plan for releasing several-hundred prisoners, many of them so-called administrative detainees, who have never been charged with a crime. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said no prisoners involved in attacks against Israel would be set free.

The release plan falls far short of Palestinian demands and Palestinian officials and militant groups have called it insufficient. Militant leaders have warned the truce could fall apart if Israel does not release more prisoners.

The prisoner issue was also on the agenda at a meeting between Israeli Justice Minister Tommy Lapid, his Palestinian counterpart, Abdelkarim Abu Salah and the Palestinian Minister in charge of prisoner affairs, Hisham Abdelrazik.

A meeting between Prime Minister Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled for later this week. (SIGNED)

NEB/SP/RAE

NEB/SP/KL