JERUSALEM. Dec 31: Israelis and Palestinians have overcome their differences on handing over control of the West Bank town of Hebron and have started to draft an accord which could be signed today. Palestinian security chief General Abdel Razek Yahya said, reports AFP.

'We are in the phase of drafting. There are no points of difference. There may be a signing today," he said.

Officials said earlier that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat could meet today to seal the long-awaited deal on Hebron.

Earlier AP says:

Prodded by President Clinton's Mideast envoy. Israel and the Palestinians held a flurry of top-level meetings Monday to try and conclude a Hebron deal by New Year’s Eve. reports AP.

Both sides said some obstacles remain, but that the elusive agreement on turning most of Hebron over to Palestinian control was finally within reach.

"I expect it to be concluded and signed in a very short time." Israeli Defence Minister Yitzhak Mordechai said before joining the talks at a Jerusalem

Yasser Arafat's deputy Mahmoud Abbas said after the conclusion of negotiations Monday that "today we had some progress." Asked about the prospects for an agreement when talks resume Tuesday, he said: "Probably — if there are no bad surprises."

But Israeli sources speaking anonymously said the chances for completion of the talks by Tuesday seemed slim and they expected agreement later in the week — perhaps by Thursday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, spng to reporters after meeting US envoy Dennis Ross, said that "we haven't reached any final agreement. When I am convinced that the security arrangements (in Hebron) ... are reached, there will be an agreement."

Earlier Monday. Nethanyahu said he would

bring any agreement to the Knesset — Israel's parliament — for approval, which could delay the actual troop redeployment for several days after a signing.

The agreement is expected to pass a Knesset vote easily.

Ross arrived in the region Monday evening for separate meetings with Netanyahu and Arafat before Joining the talks.

' Israeli officials complained that the Palestinians were trying to win last-minute concessions before the self-imposed New Year's Eve deadline. Including Israel's consent to a. Palestinian police presence at the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a Hebron shrine holy to both Jews and Muslims.

The Tomb is located In downtown Hebron, an area that will remain under Israeli role after Israeli troops pull out of four-fifths of the city of 130,000 Palestinians and 500 Jews.

In the original Hebron agreement signed by Netanyahu’s dovish predecessors. Israel retained sole security control over the Tomb, where a Jewish

settler shot and killed 29 Muslim worshipers in 1994.

Arafat has also insisted on getting a timetable from Netanyahu for Israel's three-stage troops withdrawal from West Bank rural areas, as specified in the original autdnomy agreement. The withdrawal was to have begun In September 1996 and be completed a year later.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said the Palestinians also demanded the release of Palestinian security prisoners following the signing of the Hebron agreement.

His colleague Jamil Tarifi said that the part of the agreement dealing with civilian affairs was also not completed, contrary to reports.

AFP from Jerusalem adds: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat are "very likely" to meet this evening to try to finalise an agreement on a handover of the West Bank city of Hebron, an Israeli spokesman said.