RAMALLAH, West Bank?Israel ended its three week occupation of Ramallah, the Palestinian government and commercial center, Wednesday as part of a pullout from parts of six West Bank towns it seized last month.
Elsewhere, two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, including a West Bank man accused in the death of a Jewish settler. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the man was responsible for several deadly attacks on Israelis and was “eliminated” by undercover troops.
In the Ramallah pullout, Israeli tanks, jeeps and armored personnel carriers drove out of the northern neighborhoods before dawn. The convoy passed several Palestinians, who stood in the heavy rain holding a sign with an arrow and the words: “Tel Aviv that way, and stay out.”
The parts of Ramallah that Israel occupied included five ministries of Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority.