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Palestinian forces deploy on border
Palestinian security forces have taken up positions across Gaza to curb resistance attacks against Israel, while the Rafah border crossing reopens.
The Palestinian deployment on Friday is part of new Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas' plan to halt violence and revive peace talks.
Palestinian security sources said about 2000 paramilitary police were assigned to border towns Bait Hanun and Bait Lahya and other parts of northern Gaza to prevent resistance fighters firing rockets and mortars at Jewish settlements and Israel.
Aides to Abbas said he had discussed with resistance leaders in Gaza this week the need for restraint to help ensure Israel pulls Jewish settlers out of the territory this year as planned - a step Israel says it will not take "under fire".
"Our orders are clear: to control these areas and to stop attacks," said Ismail al-Dahduh, a senior Palestinian officer, after briefing a group of 100 security personnel.
But asked what would happen if his men encountered fighters on a mission to attack Israelis, Dahduh said: "We will avoid clashing with them and we will talk to them in a positive way."
In what could be an initial sign of progress in Abbas' efforts to achieve calm, no mortars or rockets have been fired in Gaza since Tuesday.
West Bank raid
Shirin Abu Akla, Aljazeera correspondent in Ram Allah, said Israeli occupation forces backed by military vehicles entered the city's centre after midnight on Thursday.
The forces were deployed outside the Palestinian presidential headquarters and besieged one of the buildings where explosions were heard.
Palestinian sources said the Israeli forces detained the father, mother and an uncle of a wanted Palestinian. But unofficial Israeli sources said seven Palestinians were arrested.
Border reopening
Israel
has partially reopened Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt, which was closed in December when resistance fighters bombed an army post at the terminal, killing five soldiers.
Hiba Akila, Aljazeera's correspondent in Rafah, said the crossing has been reopened and the first bus carrying passengers has crossed the border heading for the Palestinian territories.
The crossing has only been opened to Palestinians who have been stranded at the Egyptian side and Hajjis (pilgrims) who are expected to return within the coming days.
The crossing is not open to people hoping to use Egypt as a stopping place before travelling abroad.
The crossing will be open until 8pm every night for the next few days as 20,000 stranded Palestinians make their way home.
Aljazeera + Agencies
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D9D621CA-357D-4434-AC5A-118209BF81C2.htm
Palestinian security sources said about 2000 paramilitary police were assigned to border towns Bait Hanun and Bait Lahya and other parts of northern Gaza to prevent resistance fighters firing rockets and mortars at Jewish settlements and Israel.
Aides to Abbas said he had discussed with resistance leaders in Gaza this week the need for restraint to help ensure Israel pulls Jewish settlers out of the territory this year as planned - a step Israel says it will not take "under fire".
"Our orders are clear: to control these areas and to stop attacks," said Ismail al-Dahduh, a senior Palestinian officer, after briefing a group of 100 security personnel.
But asked what would happen if his men encountered fighters on a mission to attack Israelis, Dahduh said: "We will avoid clashing with them and we will talk to them in a positive way."
In what could be an initial sign of progress in Abbas' efforts to achieve calm, no mortars or rockets have been fired in Gaza since Tuesday.
West Bank raid
Shirin Abu Akla, Aljazeera correspondent in Ram Allah, said Israeli occupation forces backed by military vehicles entered the city's centre after midnight on Thursday.
The forces were deployed outside the Palestinian presidential headquarters and besieged one of the buildings where explosions were heard.
Palestinian sources said the Israeli forces detained the father, mother and an uncle of a wanted Palestinian. But unofficial Israeli sources said seven Palestinians were arrested.
Border reopening
Israel
has partially reopened Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt, which was closed in December when resistance fighters bombed an army post at the terminal, killing five soldiers.
Hiba Akila, Aljazeera's correspondent in Rafah, said the crossing has been reopened and the first bus carrying passengers has crossed the border heading for the Palestinian territories.
The crossing has only been opened to Palestinians who have been stranded at the Egyptian side and Hajjis (pilgrims) who are expected to return within the coming days.
The crossing is not open to people hoping to use Egypt as a stopping place before travelling abroad.
The crossing will be open until 8pm every night for the next few days as 20,000 stranded Palestinians make their way home.
Aljazeera + Agencies
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D9D621CA-357D-4434-AC5A-118209BF81C2.htm
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IMC Network
Friday January 21, 2005
Hopes that the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships could soon resume peace talks were raised when hundreds of armed Palestinian police were today deployed across the northern Gaza Strip to prevent rocket attacks by militants.
The deployment, with officers patrolling in pickup trucks, came after Israel had renewed security co-ordination with the Palestinians earlier this week. Sources also said attempts by the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, to persuade armed groups to call a ceasefire were making progress.
In all, around 3,000 members of the Palestinian security forces will take up positions in the northern third of Gaza - the first such move since the current intifada began in 2000.
Mr Abbas said the first stage of deployment had now been completed, and the second - the deployment of officers from Gaza City to the south - would be completed within two days. Israel is due to pull out of Gaza in the summer.
However, he admitted that militant groups had yet to agree to a ceasefire, and said: "I don't know how soon we shall have results".
The deputy Israeli defence minister, Zeev Boim, warned that Israel would respond with "great force" to any renewed Palestinian rocket fire.
As part of today's deployment, 10 policemen wearing green uniforms took up posts near the Erez crossing to Israel. The officers, armed with assault rifles, checked vehicles heading to nearby Israeli positions.
Around 60 members of the Palestinian military intelligence set out on patrol from the northern town of Beit Lahiya, an area from which rockets have frequently been launched. "We've received orders to deploy all along the northern border areas to take complete control," the group's commander, Ismail Dahdouh, said.
Read More
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1395791,00.html
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1106104800461
An agreement reached Thursday approved a deployment in the northern Gaza Strip alone, but the parties were said to be discussing further PA deployments in other parts of the strip.
The PA completed the deployment of security forces in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday, according to the estatement issued by Abbas.
Palestinian security sources said around 2,000 paramilitary police officers were assigned to border towns Beit Hanun and Beit Lahia and other parts of northern Gaza, in an effort to prevent rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli targets.
In Beit Hanun, armed policemen inspected vehicles and a squad in a jeep patrolled a nearby road leading to the Erez border crossing, witnesses said.
"Our orders are clear: to control these areas and to stop attacks," said Ismail al-Dahdouh, a senior Palestinian officer, after briefing a group of 100 security personnel.
But when asked what would happen if his men encountered militants en route to carrying out an attack, Dahdouh told Reuters "We will avoid clashing with them and we will talk to them in a positive way."
In response to the deployment, Vice Premier Shimon Peres told Israel Radio that Mahmoud Abbas' "initial steps are very impressive."
Moussa Arafat, head of the PA's National Security Service, presented the plan to Israel Defense Forces officers at a meeting at the Erez checkpoint on Wednesday night.
The deployment, which was approved Thursday by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, was coordinated with Israel to ensure that Israeli forces did not mistake the policemen for terrorists and open fire.
The agreement states that the two forces will maintain a distance of a few hundred meters between them.
Meanwhile, Abbas is continuing his efforts to pursuade militants to halt the attacks, thereby avoiding a confrontation between the PA and the militants.
"Talks with Hamas are positive and are continuing," Abbas' statement said. Aides close to the chairman said Abbas' has discussed with militant groups the need for restraint in order to ensure Israel implements a planned pull-out from the Gaza Strip.
The relative quiet in northern Gaza continued Thursday. For the second day in a row, no Qassams were fired at Sderot. The IDF attributes this quiet both to the PA's efforts - over the last 24 hours, Palestinian policemen have deployed in force in several cities and towns in Gaza where no agreement with the IDF was necessary - and to the Muslim holiday of Id al-Adha. Palestinian sources also cited both of these factors as contributing to the quiet.
"The factions are waiting to see what Abbas has [to offer]," said a spokesman for the militant Popular Resistance Committees, also linking the lull to Id al-Adha, which ends on Sunday.
A Palestinian man was shot and lightly wounded by IDF gunfire near the village Salem, north of Jenin on Friday afternoon. The man was trying to damage the separation fence with an ax when he was shot.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who briefly broke off contacts with the new Palestinian leadership after a Gaza attack killed six Israelis last week, sent greetings to Abbas on the occasion of the Muslim holiday.
"Abbas responded by saying he appreciated Sharon's kind wishes and urged him to work together to achieve peace for the Palestinians and the Israelis," Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said.
Israel reopening Rafah crossing into Gaza
Israel is reopening the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt in one direction Friday, enabling Palestinians to enter Gaza from abroad but not to leave, Israel announced Thursday. The crossing has been closed since December 12, when it was damaged in a Palestinian attack on a nearby army outpost that killed five soldiers. The prolonged closure has left thousands of Palestinians stranded on the other side.
The IDF also reopened the Gush Katif junction in Gaza on Thursday, though only until 3 P.M. The junction was closed for 24 hours following a Palestinian attack there that killed Oded Sharon, a Shin Bet security service officer.
Sharon, 36, was laid to rest Thursday in his hometown of Gan Yavneh.
In the West Bank, IDF troops operating in Ramallah arrested seven militants before dawn Friday, among them one Tanzim man, Army Radio reported.
Two 12-year-old boys killed by IDF gunfire
Two 12-year-old Palestinian boys were killed by IDF gunfire Thursday: one near Jenin and one in southern Gaza.
Mohammed Da'arma was killed by an IDF force in the West Bank village of Taysir after soldiers saw him carrying a plastic rifle and mistakenly thought it was real. He was hit in the chest.
Palestinian sources said Da'arma was part of a group of children and adults who were in the street celebrating Id al-Adha. When they saw the soldiers, they began to run, and the soldiers then fired several bullets at them, the sources said.
IDF sources said the soldiers fired only one bullet: at the bearer of what seemed to them to be a genuine rifle. They said the toy bore a strong resemblance to a real M-16 - it was about the same length, and even had imitation telescopic sights - and the soldiers opened fire only when they saw the boy emerge from the crowd and point his "weapon" at them.
The army is investigating the incident.
The second victim was Salah Abu Ayash, a resident of the Yibneh refugee camp just north of the Gazan-Egyptian border. Palestinian sources said he was walking in the street when he was shot by soldiers stationed at a nearby army outpost. The IDF said the soldiers opened fire at two adults who had come within a few dozen meters of the outpost, but hit neither of them. It is possible that one of those bullets hit Abu Ayash, who was farther away.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530080.html