Hamas hints at peace as police take to the streets

Islamic militant group Hamas joined in the mood of optimism in Gaza today and signalled it would suspend rocket attacks on Israel.

The move came as thousands of armed Palestinian police took up positions along the Israeli border in the northern Gaza Strip.

They were two major steps toward a possible truce after more than four years of bloody Mideast conflict.

The Palestinian deployment, a result of renewed Israeli-Palestinian security co-ordination, came as Hamas reported progress in talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on a ceasefire deal.

Abbas was to meet with Hamas leaders again tonight, the second session in three days.

The situation remains volatile, however, with major violence by either side threatening to torpedo fledgling moves toward calm.

Similar negotiations have failed in the past, and Israel is balking at a key demand by the militants – a guarantee that it will halt military operations, including arrest raids and targeted killings of wanted men.

Deputy defence minister, Zeev Boim, said Israel would respond with “great force” to renewed rocket fire.

A 17-year-old Israeli girl who was wounded in a rocket attack last week, died today of her injuries.

However, militants have not fired rockets since Wednesday, and Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri said the group was suspending such attacks. “One can’t be negotiating and firing rockets at the same time. It just doesn’t work,” he said.

In his meetings with Hamas and other groups, Abbas is also trying to forge agreement on a joint political platform that would give him a stronger mandate in future negotiations with Israel. The document being considered calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, al-Masri said.

The spokesman indicated that Hamas hasn’t ruled out the idea. “This document still requires a lot of meetings before it can be accepted by all the Palestinian factions,” he said.

Hamas is pledged to Israel’s destruction and has carried out many suicide bombings that have killed hundreds of Israelis. But in the past it has indicated a willingness to consider long-term truces.

Throughout the day, 3,000 Palestinian police were taking up positions in the northern half of Gaza, security officials said. Over the weekend, troops are also to be deployed in the southern half.

After the outbreak of fighting in 2000, Palestinian police had increasingly stayed off the streets, for fear of being targeted by Israeli troops. Israel has said many members of the Palestinian security forces were involved in the fighting, and has repeatedly hit police positions.

The previous large-scale Palestinian police deployment in Gaza came in the summer of 2003, after militants agreed to a temporary ceasefire. The truce unravelled less than two months later and police returned to their barracks. Israel has accused Palestinian security forces in Gaza of doing nothing to stop attacks on Israelis.

In today’s deployment, some officers took up posts they had abandoned in the past, and began checking vehicles driving close to Israeli army positions. From the town of Beit Lahiya, a frequent rocket launching area, five dozen members of Palestinian military intelligence, wearing red berets, set out on patrol in new pick-up trucks.

“We’ve received orders to deploy all along the northern border areas to take complete control,” said the group’s commaner, Ismail Dahdouh.

Israeli officials said it is too soon to pass judgment on the Palestinian effort.

Deputy defence minister Boim indicated that Israel would not promise now to halt military operations, but that the issue could be discussed in future talks between Abbas, widely known as Abu Mazen, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

“I assume that further down the line, there will be a meeting, and we’ll see exactly what Abu Mazen wants,” he said.

Sharon sent messages to Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha

He said that he hopes that the entire region will be blessed by peace and prosperity, said Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat. Abbas responded that the two sides should work together to reach a peace agreement.

“We are extending maximum effort to carry out our obligation to stop violence against Israelis everywhere,” said Erekat. “We urge the Israeli side to return to the negotiating table so we can have a declaration of a mutual cessation of violence.”

Ordinary Palestinians, who have suffered much hardship as a result of the fighting, welcomed the police presence in the streets.

“This is the first step toward security and order, something that has been missing, especially in the past year,” said Mohammed Al-Ashi, 22, a mobile phone salesman in Gaza City. Al-Ashi said rocket fire was harming the Palestinians’ interests because it invites Israeli retaliation.

In further signs of easing tensions, the Israeli army reopened the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border, the Palestinians’ only link to the Arab world, to incoming traffic. The crossing has been closed since an attack on the Israeli military post there killed six people last month.