Israel to insist Abbas disarm militants

Israel will insist that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas keep his commitments to disarm militants, the Israeli defence minister said tonight.

“Israel needs to act judiciously and responsibly,” Shaul Mofaz said in a statement after an emergency meeting of senior Israeli Cabinet officials.

“We will continue to demand of Abu Mazen to meet his commitments and to disarm the terror organisations.”

Mofaz said the US-backed “road map” peace plan was the “only existing path”.