Israel, Palestinian militants see ceasefire at risk (Reuters)

[Eugene]

Israel, Palestinian militants see ceasefire at risk
03 Dec 2006 15:52:04 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Luke Baker

JERUSALEM, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert voiced concern
on Sunday about Palestinian violations of a week-old ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,
while militants accused Israel of not adhering to the increasingly shaky truce.

In a statement released by the prime minister's office, Olmert said Israel "would
not be able to hold back for much longer" if militants continued to fire rockets
from Gaza.

If the ceasefire were to collapse it would be a big blow to last week's high-profile
diplomatic push by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to achieve some sort
of breakthrough on long-stalled Israel-Palestinian peace talks.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L03805943.htm

[Englander]

1. Security cabinet votes to maintain Gaza restraint

By Akiva Eldar, Gideon Alon, and Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondents and Agencies

The security cabinet decided Sunday to continue the policy of restraint in the Gaza Strip in order to maintain the cease-fire, despite the ongoing Qassam rocket fire.

The ministers did not however decide to extend the cease-fire to the West Bank.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz said during the full cabinet meeting earlier Sunday that the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet security service will continue to operate in the West Bank in order to prevent terror attacks.

The cabinet met hours after a Qassam rocket struck in the Negev, causing no injuries or damage.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/795656.html

[Douglas Carpenter]

2. 13,000 Palestinian Forces Deploy Near Gaza Border to Enforce Cease-fire

link: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/11/26/gaza.israel/index.html?eref=rss_world

"JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday ordered 13,000 security forces to deploy near the border to enforce a cease-fire agreement with Israel, sources in Abbas' office told CNN.

The move came hours after Palestinian militants in Gaza apparently launched nearly a dozen rockets toward Israel.

Abbas also called on the Palestinian factions who previously negotiated the cease-fire to meet again to ensure the agreement holds, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told reporters Sunday."

snip:"Hamas government spokesman Ghazi Hamad insisted that all Palestinian factions are "100 percent" behind the cease-fire.

"All of them now, without exception, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Fatah and other factions, they decided to respect the agreement and also to be committed 100 percent to this agreement," Hamad told CNN."

link to full article:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/11/26/gaza.israel/index.html?eref=rss_world