Israel has agreed to a Palestinian request to reopen 20 police stations in the occupied West Bank as part of a security drive aimed at bolstering US-sponsored peace negotiations, officials said on Friday.
But in a separate move reflecting continued disputes over the contours of any final accord, Israel drew protests from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's administration by announcing plans to build new homes in Jewish settlements. Senior Palestinian civil affairs official Hussein al-Sheikh said he secured Israeli agreement to reopen 20 police stations which were abandoned after clashes erupted in September 2000.