A local leader of a militant group linked to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat?s Fatah movement vowed yesterday to halt attacks against Israelis after a planned evacuation of northern West Bank settlements.

?When the Israelis leave I will stop,? Zekariya Zubeidi, the head of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, told Israel Radio when asked if he would call a halt to attacks.

He made clear he would call an end to violence if the Israeli pullback includes a withdrawal from the Palestinian city of Jenin. ?As long as they are in Jenin I cannot stop,? he said.

Zubeidi?s pledge came a day after Palestinians reported that Israeli soldiers had attempted to assassinate him in an early morning raid in which another militant was wounded.

But it was the first signal by a leading militant in the West Bank that they would halt violence once Israel carries out a planned ?disengagement? from the Gaza Strip, by removing all 21 Jewish settlements ? as well as four more in the northern West Bank by the end of 2005.

Whether the pullback would include a withdrawal from the northern West Bank Palestinian city of Jenin remains unclear. The withdrawal was approved in principle by Israel?s cabinet on June 6, with further votes expected next year on implementing a four-stage pullout. While militants in Gaza have signalled that they would call a halt to attacks against Israel after the ?disengagement?, Zubeidi?s comments were the first such indications from a militant group in the West Bank.

Zubeidi?s pledge, spoken in Hebrew, was also significant since his branch of Al-Aqsa militants had not signed on to a ceasefire called last year after the launch of the US-backed ?roadmap? peace plan.