Palestinian gunmen protest as Israel arrests militia

PALESTINIAN security forces arrested militiamen accused of violating a truce with Israel, the first such arrests under a US-backed peace plan, prompting a protest by gunmen, who marched in the street and fired volleys into the air.

Seven militiamen were arrested in Gaza City and the town of Khan Younis, apparently for firing anti-tank rockets at the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom on Wednesday. The rocket fire injured four people.

The Palestinian security chief, Mohammed Dahlan, had assured Israel he would go after anyone who breaks the ceasefire, including those who attacked Kfar Darom.

On Thursday night, several dozen Palestinians, led by about a dozen gunmen shooting in the air, marched in Gaza City to protest the arrests. Marchers also set off homemade grenades, but there were no clashes with police.

The cease-fire declarations by Palestinian militias last weekend set in motion steps linked to the US-backed “road map” peace plan to halt violence and set up a Palestinian state in 2005. Among those backing the truce are the Islamic militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and Yasser Arafat’s ruling Fatah movement.

Touring northern Gaza on Thursday, after Israel’s withdrawal four days earlier, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas denounced the shelling. “This is an act of sabotage which we cannot accept,” he said.

However, Mr Abbas has rejected an armed confrontation with militants, fearing a civil war, preferring to negotiate an end to armed attacks.

Also yesterday, another rocket fired from Gaza landed in an agricultural area of a small Israeli farming village, the army said. No one was injured.

Near Rafah in southern Gaza, next to the Egyptian border, Palestinians fired an anti-tank missile, threw grenades and opened fire at an Israeli army post overnight, the military said yesterday. No one was hurt.

Southern Gaza, which has been the scene of daily confrontations throughout the 33-month conflict, is a stronghold of the “Popular Resistance Committees” splinters of Fatah. The groups refuse to take orders from Fatah leaders, pledging to continue attacking Israelis.