(Ha'aretz) - Arnon Regular, Aluf Benn, and Nathan Guttman Hamas and Islamic Jihad have agreed on a draft cease-fire for three months, in which they will cease attacks both in Israel and the territories. The PA wants to defer the cease-fire announcement until the arrival of U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice this weekend. The PA wanted to achieve the cease-fire before closing a deal with Israel in which the Palestinians will accept security responsibility for Gaza and Bethlehem. According to Israel Radio, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine says it does not accept the cease-fire. In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz decided Wednesday that Israel will ignore any agreements on a cease-fire reached by the Palestinian organizations, and will instead insist that the PA disarm militias in any area in which it assumes security responsibility. "We are...interested...only in what the Palestinians undertook as part of their commitments under the road map - to dismantle the terror infrastructure," said a government source.
2003-06-26 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive