Palestinian Militants Agree To Cease-Fire; Will Not Aim Rockets At Israel

[bigtree]

Gaza militants agree to unilateral ceasefire; to stop aiming rockets at Israel

By SARAH EL DEEB

A militant from the Palestinian Front for Liberation of Palestine carries a homemade rocket in the Mughazi refugee camp, in central Gaza, Saturday. (AP/Pier Paolo Cito)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Guerrilla groups in the Gaza Strip have agreed to stop firing missiles at Israel at midnight Saturday, senior Palestinian officials said.

The unilateral ceasefire is aimed at ending an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that began June 28.

The agreement was reached in Gaza City following meetings sponsored by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh aimed at finding a way out of the crisis in Gaza, the officials said.

Several Palestinian militant groups attended, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which have been blamed for many of the rocket attacks on southern Israel, the officials said.

The Israeli Defence Forces said it had no immediate comment on the Palestinian ceasefire.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2006/07/22/1697638-ap.html

[movonne]

1. Israel does not want a ceasefire...they want this war or they would

have stopped bombing by now...this is a neo-con plan to keep the neo-cons in power...

[bigtree]

2. interesting move by the Palestinians, though

Israel so appears* to want to use the Hizbollah attacks as pretext to eliminate the elected Hamas.

edit: *

[BayCityProgressive]

3. wow

Are you a member of the Knesset or IDF? Thanks for your insider knowledge of the situation! :sarcasm:

[genie_weenie]

12. OMG! Everything does not revolve around Karl Rove. n/t

[LiberalPartisan]

4. Too little too late n/t

[PCIntern]

5. The Palestinian political leadership

is getting nervous...and well that they should be. Despite what some DUers may think, Israel has shown restraint. There may have been some back channel statement which whipped these erstwhile anarchists into shape.

[papau]

6. but the PA/Hamas keeps the kidnapped kid? I doubt this makes for a deal

n/t

[bigtree]

7. this is one move

are we going to reject moves towards peace because they don't encompass ALL disputes?

I think these efforts should be used as a platform for further reconciliation, if possible.

[bigtree]

8. more: two main guerrilla groups denied that any agreement has been reached

Militants in Gaza conditionally agree to stop firing missiles at Israel; top militants deny deal

SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Writer

July 22, 2006 10:43 AM

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Senior Palestinian officials said militant groups in the Gaza Strip agreed to stop firing missiles at Israel at midnight Saturday, if Israel launches no new raids into Gaza. But two main guerrilla groups denied that any agreement had been reached.

The agreement was reached in Gaza City following meetings sponsored by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh aimed at finding a way out of the crisis in Gaza, the officials said. Several Palestinian militant groups attended, including Haniyeh's Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which have been blamed for many of the rocket attacks on southern Israel, the officials said on condition of anonymously because the agreement was reached at a closed meeting.

Abu Kosai, a spokesman for the Al Aqsa Brigades, said: ''This report is baseless. We are going to continue launching our rockets toward the Zionist communities as long as the aggression continues. As long as the aggression exists, it's our right to respond.''

He also said, ''We made contacts with all our brothers who are working in the military field who knew nothing about this report and this agreement.''

Abu Ahmed, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad, said: ''This is a completely false report. Resistance will continue because the aggression exists and rockets are one of the tools we use in this resistance.''

http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=WORLD&ID=564774339833365766

[BayCityProgressive]

10. wow

that didn't last long! I was hoping this would happen because I do agree with you, it would have been a step in the right direction.

[bigtree]

11. now look,

there have always been those who want to dislodge and dismantle any moves toward peaceful settlements in the region. They should not be allowed to overshadow and negate the actions of those who stand up and declare efforts to end violence.

It is a step in the right direction. Every long journey begins with a step. Every Palestinian initiative (and others) which genuinely renounces violence - even if it's only a temporary move to broker some type of reconciliation - should be heralded and encouraged.

[BayCityProgressive]

13. well I agree with you to a point

but I also would be very skeptical, because many times leaders int he region say one thing to appease the international comittee but then give certain members of their movement the green light to continue what they are doing.

[bigtree]

14. This is a coalition of resistance groups who have voluntarily done this

It's not the entire community by any measure, but, their actions are noteworthy, and possibly important if they can convince others to follow.

[bigtree]

9. related:

UN refugee agency head says “horrified” by Gaza destruction
(AFP)

22 July 2006

GAZA CITY - The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees Karen Abu Zeid said on Saturday she was ”a bit horrified” by the extent of the destruction caused by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.

“I’m a bit horrified by it,” she said during her visit to the deserted Maghazi refugee camp, hard-hit by an Israeli incursion which was launched on Wednesday as part of a wider operation begun in late June.

“We’re horrified following the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) for the past week ... to see what the destruction is from what they’ve done,” she told reporters, accompanied by the local UNRWA chief John Ging.

“We’re pretty depressed, we’re pretty upset.”

She said that “16 people were killed here in Maghazi over the past days, 125 wounded, there are 80 families that are now without houses.

“We don’t quite understand why every economic venture has to be destroyed,” she said outside a demolished textile factory in the heart of the refugee camp.

“The main economic backbone of Gaza, bit by bit, is being dismantled or destroyed. I think we’ve gone back many years.”
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2006/July/middleeast_July461.xml§ion=middleeast&col=