Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, will confront militant leaders tonight to demand that they stop firing mortars and rockets at Israeli settlements and towns.
Dozens of missiles were launched on Thursday after Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinians in separate incidents. Abbas later sacked nine police officers and declared a state of emergency in the Palestinian police force.
The incidents followed Tuesday’s Sharm el-Sheikh summit, when Abbas and Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, declared an end to hostilities.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they were not bound by the ceasefire because they had not been consulted.
Hassan Abu Libdeh, the Palestinian cabinet secretary, said that at the meeting with militant leaders, Abbas would ”inform them that there is only one Palestinian Authority and one leadership, and he will not accept any measures that can subject our national project to danger. The Palestinian Authority will not tolerate any actions that will sabotage the agreement reached with Israelis on a mutual ceasefire.”
In recent weeks, Palestinian police have been deployed in Gaza to prevent the firing of mortars and rockets, but they have not had a serious confrontation with militants.
On Thursday, Abbas fired nine senior police officers in Gaza for failing to prevent the attacks, which only slightly damaged a house.
Zeev Boim, Israel’s deputy defence minister, praised Abbas for dismissing the officers but called on the Palestin ian leader to take tougher action against the militants, saying the ”window of opportunity is closing”.
”We still have a policy of restraint and civil gestures in order to strengthen him, but it must be remembered this won’t last forever. He has to take action,” he said.
Hamas, which claimed responsibility for the attacks, said it was interested in a ceasefire but would respond to Israeli attacks on Palestinians. Thursday’s barrage was a message to Abbas that he could not afford to forget Hamas and had to include the organisation in his calculations and negotiations.
Ziad Abu Zayyad, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, told Israeli radio that Hamas was trying to strengthen its political position with the heavy bombardment.
”Israel has to refrain from any actions that could ignite the ground and that could be used as an excuse to torpedo the actions being taken by the Palestinian leadership,” he said. – Guardian Unlimited Â