Israel halts plans to return W. Bank land

HAR GILO, West Bank - Israeli officials on Monday halted plans to return control of more West Bank cities to the Palestinians after Palestinian security forces failed to prevent a shooting attack late Sunday that injured four Israelis outside a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

But the Israeli government planned to release about 400 Palestinian prisoners as early as Wednesday. Government spokesman Avi Pazner said that "goodwill" gesture was needed to sustain the fragile peace negotiations.

The shooting victims, an Israeli woman and her three children, were from Har Gilo, a 90-family settlement near Bethlehem. It was the first attack in the vicinity of Bethlehem since Israel returned that city to Palestinian control last month.

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