Abbas sacks commanders after threat to truce

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas sacked his top Gaza security commanders today after militants fired dozens of mortar shells and home-made rockets at Jewish settlements, in violation of a new cease-fire with Israel.

The Israeli army said there were no injuries but the flare-up in violence, which has included the fatal shootings of two Palestinians, has presented the first serious test to the truce declared by the Israeli and Palestinian leaders this week.