Olmert upbeat on Gaza truce but warns militants
Source: Reuters
By Jeffrey Heller TEL AVIV, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Thursday he was satisfied with a shaky Gaza Strip ceasefire but could order renewed military crackdowns if needed to prevent armed Palestinian factions posing a threat. The Nov. 26 truce was cast by Olmert and moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as a chance to revive diplomacy stalled since Hamas took over the Palestinian government in March. But there have been daily infractions. Israeli troops wounded two Palestinians who approached the Gaza border fence on Thursday, the second such shooting this week. Palestinian militants have continued sporadic rocket fire into the Jewish state, causing consternation but no casualties. Olmert, who championed last year's unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in the face of right-wingers who argued the impoverished coastal territory would become a hotbed of Islamic militants, said he was closely monitoring events there. "I am very happy with the ceasefire," Olmert told a conference of newspaper editors in Tel Aviv, adding Abbas had made the first overture. "I think this was a step that warranted a response by us, but with that said, we will not resign ourselves to the creation of a force that threatens the peace of Israel from Gaza," he said. "If we conclude that we have to take action in the future to prevent such a situation, we will find a way to do so." Under the truce, Israel halted offensive operations in Gaza, and Abbas secured agreements from militant groups spearheading a more than 6-year-old Palestinian revolt to suspend cross-border rocket launches and arms smuggling. The deal does not extend to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, another territory where Palestinians seek statehood. But Palestinian militant groups have said continued Israeli raids in the West Bank could prompt them to resume attacks. HAMAS SEES TRUCE ENDING Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for the armed wing of the Hamas Islamist movement, said in a statement posted on the group's Web site that it was "very possible and most likely" to call off the truce within days. Even in the current hiatus, Abu Ubaida said, Hamas was "wasting no opportunity to plan attacks against the enemy, though the operations will have to come in time". Unlike Abbas's more moderate Fatah faction, Hamas advocates Israel's destruction and has resisted international pressure to moderate its stance despite a Western aid embargo. Israel launched several major Gaza sweeps after gunmen including Hamas members abducted a soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit, and killed two others in a June cross-border raid. More than 400 Palestinians, around half of them militants, were killed in the offensive, according to Palestinian hospital officials and residents. There has been no sign of Shalit. Olmert recently signalled a new willingness to negotiate for Shalit's return via Egyptian emissaries. Hamas has demanded Israel free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including militant leaders, in exchange for the soldier. In Thursday's violence, the army said a group of Palestinians approached the border fence near the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya and began to sabotage it. Soldiers fired warning shots that were ignored, before hitting two men in separate incidents, the army added. Palestinian hospital officials said two brothers had been wounded. Residents said the men were collecting scrap metal. (Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza)
| AlertNet news is provided by |  |
