Israel welcomes ceasefire deal

Israel welcomed a temporary truce declared by Palestinian militants and promised today to hold its fire, but demanded that the Palestinian Authority eventually dismantle the armed groups.

The 13 main Palestinian groups announced last night they would halt attacks on Israel for the rest of the year, the longest-yet period of promised calm and a success for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Negotiating with the militants, rather than confronting them, is a cornerstone of Abbas’ policies.

A ceasefire would also help Israel withdraw this summer from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements without the threat of Palestinian fire during what is expected to be a complicated operation accompanied by fierce Jewish settler resistance.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad – the main groups that have waged a campaign of violence against Israel – preserved a broad loophole allowing them to call an end to the ceasefire if Israel doesn’t reciprocate.

The declaration says the halt in violence is conditional on Israel halting all military operations against Palestinians and releasing all 8,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Israel’s vice premier, Ehud Olmert, said today that Israel would refrain from military offensives to help make the shaky ceasefire a success. He noted that Israel has already released some prisoners, and plans to release more, though Israel has said it would not release all inmates.

Reiterating Israel’s long-standing position, he said the militants must be disarmed at some point.

“Is it enough? Of course not,” he said in response to the militants declaration. “Is the significance here that the Palestinian Authority is carrying out a war on terrorism? Definitely not. But they are certainly making an effort.”

“We are interested that terrorism completely stop, and every step on the road to ending terrorism is positive from our perspective,” Olmert said.

Highlighting the fragility of the truce, the Popular Resistance Committees – a Gaza-based umbrella group responsible for blowing up three Israeli tanks and killing seven soldiers in attacks in 2002 and 2003 – said it would not abide by the ceasefire.

The group’s spokesman, who goes by the nom de guerre Abu Abir, said he feels slighted because the Palestinian Authority did not invite his group to participate in the Cairo talks.

“Tomorrow, Saturday March 19, is the end of the honeymoon that we have given to Israel. We reject completely the result of the Cairo conference since we did not participate. This is a clear intent by the Egyptians and the Palestinian Authority to ignore us,” Abu Abir said.

The truce declaration also comes as Hamas and – to a lesser extent Islamic Jihad – are trying to play a role in Palestinian politics, a step Abbas hopes will eventually lead them to give up their weapons.

Hamas will participate in a parliamentary election in July, a first. In December and January, Hamas ran in local elections in the West Bank and Gaza, where it made a strong showing.