Hamas Says It May Soon End Cease-Fire
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
JERUSALEM — The Israeli army killed a Palestinian Arab and arrested 17 militants yesterday in raids across the West Bank, despite a decision by the military to scale back such operations in order to bolster a shaky truce with the Palestinian Arabs in the Gaza Strip.
Although the cease-fire agreement does not cover the West Bank, militants in Gaza have repeatedly threatened to break the truce and launch a wave of reprisal attacks because of Israeli military operations there.
“I wouldn’t rule out ending the cease-fire in a few short days if the enemy continues like this,” Hamas spokesman Abu Obeideh said.
After nightfall yesterday, Israeli troops opened fire at two men in the West Bank town of Tulkarem as they were trying to flee, killing one, the military said. The other, who was the target of the arrest raid, was wounded and captured.
Palestinian Arab security officials said the soldiers opened fire at a restaurant, killing a civilian and wounding two others — the militant and a teenager.
Prime Minister Olmert of Israel told Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday that the government would react with restraint to the continuing attacks.
“It was clear that there would not be an absolute halt to hostilities, but we must remember that, until now, we haven’t found an alternative formula to stop the rocket fire and weapons smuggling,” he said, referring to the militants’ efforts to bring weapons in from Egypt.
“We will fully explore every possibility that can lead to momentum to begin a diplomatic process, and so we are now giving the truce a chance,” he said, according to participants in the meeting.
To encourage the cease-fire, senior military officials said yesterday they had decided to reduce their West Bank operations, allowing only regional or division commanders to order arrest raids, instead of the lower-ranking brigade commanders.
The army also was ordered to take precautions so that “uncalled-for incidents don’t develop,” a member of the parliamentary committee, senior Labor Party legislator Danny Yatom, said.
However, he said, “There is absolutely no Israeli commitment not to take military action against terror threats” there.
