GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - The Israeli military was delivering the bodies of 15 militants to the Palestinians for burial today, a day after Israel's Cabinet approved the names of 500 prisoners to be released and security commanders prepared for the handover of a West Bank town to Palestinian control.

The latest goodwill gesture, part of a package agreed on at last week's Mideast summit, came as Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas told The New York Times the war with Israel is effectively over and that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is speaking "a different language" to the Palestinians.

In Israel, meanwhile, the political climate was growing increasingly divisive over Sharon's plan to pull out of Gaza and four West Bank settlements this summer.

Israeli President Moshe Katsav said today that he favors detaining some Jewish extremists without trial or charges, in so-called administrative detention. Katsav spoke in response to a wave of threats against government ministers who support the Gaza withdrawal.

The bodies of the 15 Palestinian militants were to be driven from Israel's forensics institute to the Erez crossing into Gaza today. The militants had been killed in attacks against Israel in the past two years, including bombing-and-shooting attacks on Israeli army outposts in Gaza.

It was not clear why Israel had kept the bodies of these particular attackers. In some cases, the military returns bodies of militants immediately. Islam, like Judaism, requires speedy burial.

Late Sunday, senior Israeli and Palestinian commanders met to coordinate the handover of Jericho, the first of five West Bank towns to be turned over to Palestinian control in coming weeks.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat, who lives in Jericho, said he expects the Israeli army roadblocks surrounding the desert oasis to be removed Tuesday or Wednesday. Erekat said the two sides might even resume joint security patrols.