A dispute over checkpoints has temporarily broken off negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority over the planned turnover of the West Bank city of Jericho to PA control.

Neither side would give up hope that a settlement could eventually be reached. 'We did not reach final agreement as the Israeli side still has no instructions to lift all checkpoints. So we are still in the process of consultations,' Palestinian national security force chief Haj Ismail Jaber told Reuters.

An Israeli military official added, 'The meeting ended without result but the contacts will go on.'

The key issue to the dispute is how much area outside of the city limits the PA will be responsible for maintaining security over. Israel doubts the PA has the ability as this point to adequately prevent terrorist attacks by militants. The PA wants to control access from Jericho to other areas in the West Bank to make travel easier for Palestinians.

'Jericho is the first stage, starting with the easy part. After that they will get other cities. It's a matter of them (Palestinians) taking responsibility to stop terror,' said Amos Gilad, a senior official at the Israeli Defense Ministry. 'We must give Palestinians the chance. The difference is that they have a will to stop terror now,' Gilad added.

It seems that this is a minor delay in the pullback. One official said the physical pullback could be done within a matter of hours after an agreement is signed.

Still, if the PA and Israel cannot work out their differences over Jericho, a place where violence has been kept to a minimum during the past four years, other, more sensitive areas will be even tougher to negotiate.