This was a Good Surprise, Let's Hope Ceasfire Lasts, (S.C)
Last update - 14:38 26/11/2006 from Haaretz
PA security forces begin deploying in Gaza to prevent Qassam fire
By Avi Issacharoff, Aluf Benn, Jack Khoury and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies
Palestinian Authority security forces began deploying along the Gaza Strip's border with Israel on Sunday, in order to prevent Palestinian militants from firing Qassam rockets at Israel in violation of the cease-fire.
A short time earlier, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas ordered the heads of Palestinian security forces to ensure that Gaza militants respect the truce, Palestinian officials said.
Three Qassam rockets hit Israel in the first few hours after a truce between Israel and Palestinian militant factions in the Gaza Strip went into effect, causing no damage or injuries. Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday said that Israel would display "patience and restraint" in the face of Palestinian violations of a cease-fire that went into effect earlier in the day.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said all major militant factions in the Gaza Strip had reaffirmed their commitment to the truce, Reuters reported.
"Contacts were made with the political leaderships of the factions and there is a reaffirmation of the commitment of what has been agreed to," Haniyeh said.
The military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for continued Qassam rocket fire on Israel in the hours after the truce took hold.
Speaking at a high school in the Bedouin town of Rahat, Olmert said that Israel must give the truce a chance and pledged that "the government of Israel will not miss this opportunity for calm."
It was not immediately clear whether there was an explicit order by Abbas to use force to stop rocket fire by militants.
"President Abbas has given his instructions to security chiefs to implement the understanding of calm," one of the officials said.
Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said in response to the continued Qassam fire: "Let's hope that's just the problems of the beginning. But if Israel is attacked, we will respond. If there are Palestinian factions that are not part of the cease-fire, it's hard to see how the cease-fire will hold."
Hamas, Islamic Jihad fire Qassam rockets despite truce
Israel and the Palestinian factions in Gaza officially began the cease-fire at 6 A.M., following an agreement reached between Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian factions. Abbas called Olmert on Saturday to inform him of the deal.
But three Qassam rockets hit Israel in the first few hours after the truce went into effect, causing no damage or injuries.
One of the rockets hit Sderot, another fell in an open area north of the western Negev town, and the third landed close to a local kibbutz.
A senior official in Jerusalem said Israel would wait several hours to see if the attacks were isolated breaches or a full-scale violation of the agreement before deciding whether to respond.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Palestinian lawmaker Saeb Erekat, an Abbas confidant, condemned the new rocket attacks.
"This is a violation and [Abbas] calls it a violation, and urges all to abide by the agreement that should be honored for the interest of the Palestinian people," he said.
Islamic Jihad and Hamas military wings said the rocket fire was in response to the arrest of two Hamas operatives in Hebron, despite earlier pledges not to violate the truce in response to West Bank incidents and despite the fact that the arrests took place prior to 6 A.M.
Hamas officials also said that the Qassams were fired because Israel had not removed all of its forces from Gaza, a claim that Israel denied.
The Palestinian Authority later released a statement confirming that all Israel Defense Forces troops had indeed withdrawn from the Strip.
A spokesman for Islamic Jihad said his group fired rockets into Israel at 8 A.M., two hours after the start of the truce, and denied his group had signed on to the cease-fire agreement.
Despite the claims of responsibility, a spokesman for the Hamas-led Palestinian government, Ghazi Hamad, said all the armed groups had committed to the agreement, and any violations were rogue acts.
"There is a 100 percent effort to make this work, but there is no guarantee of 100 percent results," Hamad said.
The IDF said all troops were withdrawn from Gaza in the hours before the ceasefire began. Streets in northern Gaza were empty immediately after the truce took hold.
Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Sunday morning that any attempt to fire into Israeli territories would be considered a breach of the cease-fire and treated with severity.
According to Peretz, Israel is interested in quiet, but would not accept attacks on its citizens.
Palestinian militants in Gaza also fired at least three Qassam rockets at Israel in the minutes before the cease-fire went into effect. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attacks.
One of the first salvo hit a house in Sderot, causing damage but no injuries. The other two Qassams landed at the entrances to kibbutzim in the western Negev, causing no damage or injuries.
A senior security source said on Saturday that military pressure and increased military actions in recent weeks had led the Palestinian factions and terror organizations to agree to a cease-fire.
After his conversation with Abbas, Olmert consulted with ministers including Peretz and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and the security establishment, and told Abbas that since Israel had operated in the Gaza Strip in response to terror, Israel would stop its military activities and remove its forces from Gaza in response to the ceasefire in the hope it would hold and serve both sides.
Government sources in Jerusalem said Saturday that if the cease-fire held, it would bring forward a meeting between Olmert and Abbas.