Truce agreed with strings attached
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the military wing of President Yassar Arafat’s Fatah faction – the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades – have announced they will temporarily end violence against Israelis.
Jihad and Hamas groups announced a joint three-month truce, while the Fatah faction’s was for six months.
Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader, read the truce notice: “We, the factions of the Palestinian resistance, signing this statement, declare the following initiative – the suspension of military operations against the Zionist enemy for three months. This initiative goes into effect from today.”
The news came as Israelis said they had agreed with Palestinian counterparts on plans to pull their military out of the northern Gaza Strip.
As of Sunday night, the Israeli army had begun to retreat out of the war torn area, according to reports
Israeli TV showed pictures of a long line of vehicles rumbling northwards out of the Gaza Strip.
If the agreement is observed, Israel will remove key checkpoints, reopen the Rafah checkpoint, and ease restrictions on Palestinians working inside Israel.
Palestinian leaders, for their part, must hunt down the perpetrators of violence and assassination against Israelis within their own ranks.
The positive news from the Palestinian side came with strings attached.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad want the effective house arrest of the Palestinian Authority president, Mr. Arafat, to be lifted, an end to all assassinations and the release of all Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Israel’s response was to claim the ceasefire was a ruse designed to give Palestinians the chance to regroup.
Gideon Meir, deputy director-general of the Israeli foreign ministry said: “From our point of view it is a trap,”
US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice over the weekend held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem, a day after meeting Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.
