WEST BANK: ISRAEL HANDS OVER CITY OF QALQILIYA TO PALESTINIANS

(16 Dec 1995) Natural Sound Israeli forces have handed over control of the city of Qalqiliya to Palestinian police amongst cheers, song and dance. It is the fourth town this month to be handed over to PLO. Twenty Israeli jeeps left Qalqiliya, marking another historic withdrawal from the West Bank. The pull out marks the continuing move towards Palestinian control of the area following the September autonomy accord. As Israeli troops left, one soldier shouted "mabruk", which means congratulations. The convoy was escorted out of Qalqiliya by the city's new law enforcers - the Palestinian police. They formed a human chain to push back the crowd of Palestinian locals and to protect the departing Israelis. Occasionally groups of people broke through and one man threw a stone. The Palestinian police's arrival was greeted with cheers, song and even dance by the Palestinian residents. They filled the streets and watched as the Palestinian police opened the doors of what was just moment's before the Israeli military's headquarters in the city. The pull out ended 28 years of Israeli occupation of Qalqiliya. Under the Israel-P-L-O autonomy agreement, Israeli troops are to leave two other towns Bethlehem and Ramallah by the end of the month. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...