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Israel army chief orders halt to gaza operations { January 29 2005 }

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   http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=12206

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=12206

Israel Army chief orders halt to Gaza operations


Compiled by Daily Star staff
Saturday, January 29, 2005


Israel announced Friday an end to offensive operations in Gaza after 2,000 Palestinian troops were deployed in the south and center of the territory with orders to halt rocket attacks.

The latest moves fueled further optimism about genuine progress after more than four years of violence, after Israeli Prime Minister Aril Sharon said he detected the possibility of "a historic breakthrough" with the Palestinians.

The cessation of offensive actions in Gaza was announced by army chief of staff Mocha Yaalon who also ordered that any operations targeting West Bank militants would have to be approved by him in person.

"Proactive [army] operations in the Gaza Strip will cease in the areas in which Palestinian security forces have redeployed and in which terror activities against Israeli civilians and [Israeli Army] forces have been stopped," he said.

The powerful former Palestinian security chief in Gaza, Mohammed Dahlan, said it was "an encouraging measure which should facilitate the conclusion of a cease-fire agreement."

Still, Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said Israel must go further.

"We call upon the Israelis to announce a full stop to violence against Palestinians everywhere, to match our commitment to stop violence against Israelis everywhere," Erekat said.

Israeli government spokes-man Avi Pazner said the move was a goodwill gesture in the hope the Palestinians would reciprocate.

"This is a far reaching step on our part, the biggest gesture since the start of the intifada in the hope we might be able to open a new page with the Palestinians," he said.

The Israeli order came several hours after hundreds of Palestinian police spread out in the central and southern Gaza Strip, completing a deployment ordered by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas last week to halt attacks on Israeli targets.

Areas of southern Gaza, particularly along the border with Egypt and near a large bloc of Jewish settlements, have been flashpoints of violence. Militants have frequently fired guns, rockets and mortars at Israeli positions, and troops have responded with deadly raids that left thousands of Palestinians homeless.

In the Rafah refugee camp, perhaps hardest hit in the fighting, Palestinian police raised a flag atop a badly damaged house near an Israeli military patrol road on the border with Egypt.

The police deployment was accompanied by a decree banning Palestinian civilians from holding weapons, in a nod to demands by Israel and the United States that militants, responsible for killing more than 1,000 Israelis, must be disarmed. It was also the latest message from Abbas that his government will be based on law and order, and that police will not allow militants to strut in public with their weapons.

Relative calm has settled in Gaza over the past week since Abbas secured an unofficial agreement for a "cooling down" period with the factions.

Yet despite the calm, a top Hamas leader in Gaza warned the radical group would respond harshly if Israel took any military action against the Palestinians.

"Anyone who thinks these forces will stop the resistance if there is any aggression against the Palestinian people is mistaken," Mahmoud Zahar said.

"If there are any Israeli attacks or assassinations, we will give a strong answer in every way," he said.

Since his election on Jan. 9, Abbas has spared no effort to try and broker a truce among militant groups, prompting rare words of praise from Sharon late Thursday.

"I think a historic breakthrough is possible in our relations with the Palestinians. We are detecting encouraging signs but these things must still be verified," Sharon said.

Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres welcomed the fresh approach to the Middle East conflict by Abbas and Sharon.

"I feel that we are again approaching a new age," Peres said in a panel discussion between Israeli and Palestinian leaders at the World Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

U.S. State Department envoy William Burns also said he was "encouraged by all the security steps being taken by the Palestinian Authority" following talks Friday with Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erakat.

In a sign of a new push for peace, U.S. officials said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would visit the region early next month. Palestinian officials said she would hold talks in Israel and the West Bank on Feb. 6 and 7.

On the ground, Israel responded to a Palestinian Authority request to free a militant from the radical Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades who survived an Israeli assassination operation.

And they also released the body of a senior Hamas militant killed nearly two years ago by Israeli troops.

He was buried Friday in the southern West Bank town of Bethlehem. - Agencies



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