Israeli-Palestinian tit-for-tat continues

The rocket and mortar fire come despite Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' vow to do his utmost to prevent further attacks.

In Ram Allah, Israeli troops stormed the town on Monday, surrounded a building and raided a library, where seven Palestinian youths were detained.

Sources say the detainees are Islamic Jihad members.

Israeli forces have previously arrested its members who used to frequent the library, reported Aljazeera's correspondent in the town, Shireen Abu Aqla.

The army has confirmed the raid but would not identify those detained, the correspondent added.

Overnight, Israeli troops also detained six other Palestinians in the West Bank, four in Ram Allah and one each in Hebron and Bethlehem.

The Israeli army said they were Hamas activists.

Right to retaliate

Hamas, meanwhile, confirmed its commitment to a truce agreed to in Egypt, but reserved the right to retaliate for any Israeli attacks on its people.

In Tulkarim, Israeli troops were continuing their invasion, targeting Islamic Jihad activists. The movement claimed responsibility for last week's attack in the Israeli town of Netanya.

Several homes were raided by the army.

Abbas promised on Sunday to do "all we can" to prevent further rocket strikes on Israelis "regardless of the price".

But on Monday, resistance groups fired about a dozen mortars at Jewish settlements in Gaza and at least one makeshift rocket into southern Israel, the Israeli army said.

There have been more than a hundred such cross-border attacks since last week.

Disengagement protests

Abbas held talks with Egypt's deputy intelligence chief, Mustafa al-Buheiri, who rushed to Gaza on a mission to help restore the informal truce.

The envoy later held a follow-up meeting with representatives of Hamas.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice scheduled a quick trip to the region this week to try to keep the Gaza pullout on track.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who ordered the army to step up action after a bombing killed five Israelis in a coastal town last Tuesday, told his commanders on Sunday "to act without limitation to stop the strikes on Israeli communities".

But Sharon later hinted that Israel would not be quick to launch a major incursion into Gaza, telling his cabinet he would "weigh our response" to further truce violations.

Settler confrontation

Abbas has accused Israel of undermining his efforts to control the situation. But Israel said it had no choice but to act because Abbas, facing a growing political and military challenge from Hamas, had failed to rein in resistance groups.

Sharon has vowed to do whatever is necessary so that Gaza's 21 settlements are not evacuated "under fire".

He appeared headed for a fresh confrontation with settlers and supporters opposed to any pullout. A mass rally was set for the southern town of Netivot on Monday to kick off three days of protests.

Settler leaders say tens of thousands of people will defy a police ban and march towards Gaza's main settlement bloc on Wednesday, risking clashes with security forces.

Some 8500 Jews live cloistered from 1.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.
Aljazeera + Agencies

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