Israel has changed its military tactics in the occupied West Bank, pulling back its soldiers from cities, and lifting checkpoints and roadblocks, analysts say.

But the three Israeli army generals who engineered the changes are on their way out, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Brig. Gen. Noam Tivon, one of the leaders of the shift, told the Journal, "Part of our philosophy is to fight the terrorists with M-16 (rifles), not F-16 (jets)."

Under the policies, daytime raids with large battalions have largely been eliminated, with commanders instead using more surgical strikes by commandos, which are seen as less disruptive to the civilian population.

"Now they only arrest Palestinians during the night," Sattar Kassem, a Palestinian political science professor in Nablus, told the newspaper. "The occupation continues and this is what matters most, but there is less friction for now."

The Journal said Tivon and Maj. Gen. Gadi Shamni, head of Israel's Central Command, are changing jobs in the coming weeks, with the Department of Defense's Civil Administration commander, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, also due to finish up within the next year. One of their replacements has little experience in the West Bank, some critics warn.