Israel turned over security control of the West Bank city of Tulkarem to the Palestinian Authority on Monday after negotiators reached an agreement earlier in the day, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The IDF said villages in the vicinity of Tulkarem will remain under Israeli control for the time being, but Israel will open a gate connecting Tulkarem to villages east of the city. That gate has been closed until now.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met twice before finding agreement on the handover and further meetings are scheduled in the near future, the IDF said.

Palestinian security sources confirmed that an agreement on the transfer of security control in Tulkarem was reached.

Palestinian sources said the roadblock connecting Tulkarem to the villages on the east will be opened Tuesday at 9 a.m. local time.

Israel last week turned over security control of Jericho to the Palestinian Authority and is scheduled to transfer security control of three more cities to the Palestinians, in addition to Tulkarem.

The Israeli daily newspaper Ha'aretz reported that Palestinians wanted control of the Tulkarem villages as well, but the IDF said an Islamic Jihad cell blamed for a February 25 suicide attack in Tel Aviv is based there and refused to give the villages up. Five Israelis died in the Tel Aviv attack.

The Palestinian Authority had been in control of the entire area under the terms of the Oslo Accords, but Israel moved back into the area in 2000 in response to a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings.

Source: Agencies