BEIJING, March. 22 -- The Israeli army has handed over the security of the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), after a few hours' delay.

    After signing on the security protocol, Tulkarem governor Izzedin al-Sharif told reporters that the disputes that delayed the handover were related to the Israeli insistence on keeping troops in the village of Ramin, to the east of Tulkarem.

    Sharif said as a compromise, Israel offered to hand control of Tulkarem to the PNA on Monday, and the differences concerning its nearby villages would be resolved by politicians from both sides later.

    The governor said the Israeli army refused to remove a roadblock north of Ramin that links the villages of Allar and Bala'a.

    As part of the Sharm el-Sheikh understandings reached by Mahmoud Abbas and Ariel Sharon, Israel handed over the West Bank city of Jericho to the PNA last week.

    Following Tulkarem, three other West Bank cities, namely, Qalqilia, Ramallah and Bethlehem will come next.

(Source:CRIENGLISH.com)