JERICHO, West Bank - Israel today handed this quiet West Bank town over to Palestinian security control, ending a weeks-long impasse over the removal of army roadblocks and giving a fresh boost to Mideast peace-making, Palestinian commanders said.

Jericho is the first of five West Bank towns to revert back to Palestinian control in coming weeks, part of an attempt to restore the situation that existed before the outbreak of fighting in September 2000.

As part of the pullback in Jericho, Israeli troops removed one roadblock, while two other barriers were to remain in place during a monthlong period in which the ability of the Palestinian forces to keep calm will be tested. The Palestinians had insisted that all checkpoints be removed but accepted the compromise.

Ahead of the handover, Israeli and Palestinian commanders jointly patrolled the area. Israeli flatbed trucks began removing cement blocks at one of the roadblocks, while Palestinian forces took up positions in another area.

Israeli travel restrictions have severely hampered daily life in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in more than four years of fighting, and the removal of barriers sends a message to ordinary Palestinians that an informal truce with Israel is beginning to pay off.

Israel says the barriers were erected to prevent Palestinian suicide bombers and gunmen from reaching Israeli targets; hundreds of Israelis have been killed in attacks by militants since 2000.

Palestinians found it difficult to believe their lives are going to improve.

"Even if they remove one checkpoint here or there, there are dozens of others," said Ayman Shaabna, 19, standing in line at the main checkpoint just south of Jericho.

In the past four years, Israeli troops have rarely entered Jericho, which has largely stayed out of the fighting.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, a resident of Jericho, said the handover of the town is the first step in returning to the situation before the outbreak of fighting on Sept. 28, 2000.

"The point is we are trying to get things back ... gradually, hoping that through peace and negotiations things will change," he said.

Maj. Sharon Assman, an Israeli army officer involved in the handover, said it was now up to the Palestinians to keep militants in check and ensure calm.

"There will be additional meetings to consider additional easings of restrictions. This will depend on ... guarantees of the Palestinian security forces that they will fight terror," he said.

As part of the handover, 17 Palestinian fugitives in Jericho were taken off Israel's wanted list, said Erekat. The fate of two top militants jailed under international supervision in Jericho, including the mastermind of the assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister, remains unclear.