Several moves were made concurrently, leading to skepticism
mixed with hope on the part of Israeli officials. Early on
Sunday, Hamas and Islamic Jihad issued a joint statement
announcing that they are immediately suspending "all military
operations against the Zionist enemy" for three months. Later
in the day Arafat's Fatah movement joined the cease-fire,
saying it had accepted an Egyptian call for a six-month truce
and issuing a statement similar to that of Hamas and Islamic
Jihad. The PFLP "opposes" the agreement, but its leaders have
promised to refrain from carrying out attacks.
Further progress was made on Monday, as the two sides reached
an agreement to hand security responsibility for Bethlehem
over to the PA. Israel is scheduled to actually hand over
responsibility on Wednesday.
One encouraging sign was that security alerts on Monday
declined from their average of 50-75 to about 15.
Sunday night, the IDF pulled out of Beit Hanun in the
northern Gaza Strip as agreed on Friday by Mohammed Dahlan,
the Palestinian security minister, and Amos Gilad, an Israeli
general. During the day, convoys of army trucks and heavy
vehicles left the Palestinian town, with troops pulling out
several hours later. The IDF pullout returned that part of
Gaza to Palestinian control.
The two moves were not directly linked. However the PA said
it was not prepared to take over responsibility for security
until Hamas and the Islamic Jihad declared a cease-fire, and
Israel was not prepared to leave areas it has been patrolling
until the PA undertakes to prevent attacks from those areas
onto Israel. Once it had the cease-fire, the PA accepted
responsibility for security in limited areas of Gaza.
The terror groups said that their cease-fire was contingent
upon Israel's acceptance of a number of conditions, including
an "immediate cessation of all forms of Zionist aggression
against our Palestinian people, including incursions,
demolitions, closures, and sieges on cities, villages, and
refugee camps." Also, lifting the siege on Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, and ending attacks against
"Muslim and Christian holy sites, assassinations, arrests,"
and "deportations."
Finally, the statement demanded the release of all prisoners
and detainees, Palestinian and Arab, from Israeli prisons
without condition or restriction.
The Hamas and Islamic Jihad, both recognized virtually
throughout the world as terror organizations, concluded, "in
the event that the enemy does not heed these conditions and
commitments, or breaches any of them, we see ourselves
unencumbered by this initiative and we hold the enemy
responsible for the consequences."
Fatah refused to sign the joint statement since it did not
include references to the road map. However the terror
organizations do not accept the road map and would not refer
to it.
Some senior Israeli diplomatic officials dismissed the cease-
fire between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas and Islamic
Jihad as meaningless.
"This is more duplicity and noncompliance," one official
said. "It is similar to Saddam Hussein's belief that people
can be fooled with words. It is all talk."
According to one Israeli official, the PA must not suffice
with the tactical cease-fire (called hudna in Arabic),
and must work to dismantle the terror organizations.
"Hudna gives religious legitimacy for breaking the
cease-fire when you are strong enough to do so," he said.
He said that by conditioning the agreement on the release of
all Palestinian prisoners, Hamas and Islamic Jihad are
providing themselves with an excuse to break the agreement at
any time, since Israel has no intention to do this.
At the same time, he said that if the PA uses the cease-fire
to gain time so it can eventually dismantle and disarm the
terror organizations, then some good may come out of it.
He made clear that Israel had nothing to do with the cease-
fire. "We deal only with the PA, with its obligations and
commitments," he said. "If it uses this period now to
dismantle and disarm the terror organizations, we can move
along the road map. If not, we move back to square one."
There have been press reports that in private PA officials
made strong statements about their commitment to disarm the
terrorist groups, but that they were not ready to say similar
things in public. This combination is what produced the
skepticism combined with some elements of hope that is
reflected in the Israeli reaction.
The Bush administration welcomed the cease-fire, but with
reservations.
"Anything that reduces violence is a step in the right
direction," said White House spokeswoman Ashley Snee. Still,
she said, "parties have an obligation to dismantle terrorist
infrastructure" under the road map. "There is still more work
to be done."
On Sunday, Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national
security adviser, completed two days of talks with
Palestinian and Israeli leaders to promote the peace plan.
Rice, during a meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and
the inner cabinet, expressed US concern that the security
fence is creating facts on the ground that would prejudge a
final settlement, and indicated the US would like to see
construction stopped as a confidence-building measure.
Sharon replied that if the choice is between having a
disagreement with the US over the fence or burying Israeli
victims of suicide bombers, it is clear what choice Israel
would make.
Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that Israel is
"ready to give the Palestinian leadership a chance to prove
that they are ready to dismantle the terrorist organizations,
even though we have our doubts."
Netanyahu pointed out that some 250 suicide bombers have come
from Judea and Samaria in the last 33 months, but not one
from the Gaza Strip, which has a fence. "The fence creates a
security line, not a diplomatic border," he said.
Rice responded by saying that even though Israel claims the
fence is not political, it creates facts on the ground and is
seen in the eyes of the Palestinians as a political
boundary.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas reportedly
spent a lot of time in his meeting Saturday night with Rice
complaining that the fence is usurping Palestinian land and
creating a border that will severely limit a Palestinian
state.
Abbas also brought this issue up with President George W.
Bush at the summit in Aqaba earlier this month. After the
speeches, Bush -- according to Israeli officials -- asked
Sharon whether Israel would consider halting construction of
the fence. Sharon said no, and the issue was dropped.
Rice was given an intelligence and security briefing by Mofaz
and security officials, including Chief of General Staff Lt.-
Gen. Moshe Ya'alon. Mofaz said that in his estimation "the PA
is afraid to get into a confrontation with the terrorist
organizations."
"The PA intentionally delayed taking on security
responsibility until a cease-fire was signed with the
terrorist organizations," he said. "Up until now, we have not
seen true reform in unifying all the security forces under
one command. [PA Chairman Yasser] Arafat is still an active
player who controls part of the security organizations, which
are placing obstacles in Abu Mazen's [Abbas's] way."
Foreign Minister Shalom, when talking about the need for the
PA to put an end to incitement, made reference to an article
that appeared in the PA's official newspaper, Al-
Ayyam, last week that launched a scathing attack on Rice,
calling her a "black widow" and a "single black lady."
According to Israeli officials, Rice responded that she is
aware of the article and found it "shocking."
Rice returned to Washington Sunday night.
Other measures in Gaza include the opening of the main north-
south road (Tancher Road) at the Netzarim and Gush Katif
junctions to Palestinian traffic and easing up the
restrictions on laborers from the Gaza Strip who work inside
the Green Line. The Tancher Road has been closed for almost
three years to Palestinian motorists.
