Hours after militants launched a mortar barrage at Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered his security forces on Thursday to act against extremists who are threatening a fragile truce with Israel.
A statement carried by the official Palestinian Wafa news agency said the Palestinian security forces have full responsibility to confront any violation of the ceasefire agreement, which Abbas this week declared together with Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon at a summit in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm a-Sheikh.
The mortar barrage, which caused no injuries and slight damage, prompted Israel to postpone a meeting between Sharon’s key aide, Dov Weisglass, and Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat.
The meeting had been slated to discuss a proposed Israeli withdrawal from West Bank cities.
Israel also warned the Palestinians that the mortar barrages have to stop ”immediately”, Israel Radio said, reporting on a meeting Sharon convened with his top ministers to discuss the latest developments.
A senior Palestinian official accused the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla group of working to sabotage the truce.
”Hezbollah is pushing some people to undermine the Sharm el Sheikh agreements,” the official said outside presidential headquarters in Ramallah.
The official called on Israel to understand the situation and not to respond to the mortar barrage.
Israeli security officials, who have long claimed the Iranian-backed Hezbollah is active among Palestinian militant groups, have expressed fears they will try to launch an attack to destroy the still-fragile ceasefire.
Senior Palestinian security official Jibril Rajoub said Abbas will travel to Gaza on Friday to convince the militant factions there to abide by the ceasefire.
One faction, the Islamic Jihad, said it wants to hear from Abbas what transpired at his Sharm meeting with Sharon before it commits itself to any declaration issued there.
The Islamic Hamas movement said it was responsible for the predawn mortar attack on the Israeli settlement block of Gush Katif in the southern Gaza Strip.
A leaflet issued by the movement said a barrage was launched in retaliation for what it said was Israel’s breaking the truce.
Hamas said it fired about 40 mortar rounds at Gush Katif; the Israeli Army said on Thursday morning it knew of at least 17 that landed in the settlement.
In its leaflet, the movement named two Palestinians who have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the truce declaration.
Palestinian security sources said one of the deaths occurred on Wednesday afternoon when an explosive device he was handling malfunctioned and blew up in his face. Accounts differed whether the second death, which occurred near the Atzmona settlements, was an innocent bystander or an infiltrator.
Overnight in the northern West Bank, Israeli troops fired at a speeding car that tried to evade a roadblock, resulting in the death of the driver.
An army spokesperson said soldiers had noticed two cars driving at extremely high speed in the night. Both vehicles ignored commands to stop and tried to evade a roadblock, causing soldiers to fire — first in the air and then at the vehicles. One vehicle overturned, the second sped on.
The army spokesperson said it was unclear whether the driver was killed by the army’s shots or when the vehicle overturned. She said an initial investigation revealed the vehicle had been stolen in Jerusalem on Wednesday afternoon. — Sapa-DPA