Hamas refuses to halt attacks

In a first step against militants, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas ordered his security forces today to try to prevent attacks against Israel and to investigate a shooting at a Gaza Strip crossing that killed six Israeli civilians last week.

However, it was unclear how the order would be translated into action, if at all.

Abbas insists he will use persuasion, not force, to rein in armed groups, and a Hamas spokesman said the Islamic militant group will continue carrying out attacks.

Abbas was under growing pressure to move against militants following last week’s attack at the Karni crossing between Gaza and Israel.

Israel suspended ties with Abbas in response, and US Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Abbas in a phone call to rein in the armed groups.

Abbas’ victory in presidential elections last week had raised hopes for a breakthrough in Mideast peace making. However, the Karni attack, two days before he was sworn into office, ended his honeymoon with Israel before it ever started.

Israeli troops raided several areas of Gaza over the weekend to halt rocket fire on Israeli settlements and border towns, withdrawing early today. Sixteen Palestinians were killed in the raids, among them nine gunmen and seven civilians, including a 10-year-old boy.

Israel decided to hold off on a major military offensive in Gaza to give Abbas more time to act against militants, a senior government official said today.

During a Palestinian Cabinet meeting today, Abbas instructed the security forces to try to prevent attacks against Israel. “A decision was taken that we will handle our obligation to stop violence against Israelis anywhere,” said Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat.

Abbas moved up his planned negotiations with militants, with ministers saying he would travel to Gaza for talks with various factions tomorrow, instead of Wednesday, as initially scheduled.

The Palestinian Cabinet also asked the Palestinian Preventive Security Service, which controls the crossings into Israel, to investigate the Karni attack. Three militant groups, including Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, which has ties to Abbas’ ruling Fatah movement, carried out the attack.

Israeli officials have said they have indications that the attackers left from a Palestinian Authority base and passed through a Palestinian checkpoint on the way to the attack.

Israel has accused Palestinian security forces of permitting acts of violence, and even collaborating with them. It wants Abbas to overhaul the myriad security forces and place them under a central authority.

Raanan Gissin, a Sharon aide, called the Palestinian Cabinet decision a “small step in the right direction.”

“Now we have to see how it happens on the ground, based on things that were said,” he added.

Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri said the group would not comply with the new orders. “We consider resistance as a red line, and no one is allowed to cross this line,” al-Masri said.

However, Hamas leaders have said they would consider halting attacks if Israel stops military operations.

The Islamic Jihad group sent two gunmen into a no-go zone near the border fence between Gaza and Israel today. Israeli troops killed one of the gunmen.

In searches, troops found a missile launcher and an anti-tank missile and came under fire from the second gunman, who was killed by return fire, the army said.