Hamas and Fatah call for new truce

Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah have agreed to implement a new ceasefire deal with effect from 1200 GMT on Saturday in a bid to end deadly Gaza violence, an official said.

"Hamas and Fatah reached a ceasefire deal through the mediation of Palestinian factions and an Egyptian delegation as of 1500 (local time) today," prime minister Ismail Haniya's spokesman Ghazi Hamad told reporters.

Under the agreement, "armed men will leave (their positions in) buildings and streets, will remove road blocks and release hostages on both sides at 1600," he added.

The ceasefire deal is the fifth the two sides have signed since the outbreak of internecine violence in the Gaza Strip last Sunday which has left some 50 people dead.

Washington, May 19: The United States has accused the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) of igniting violence in the autonomous region.

"They are the culprits in terms of this new wave of violence... This all started with Hamas not only attacking the legitimate security forces in the Gaza Strip, but also starting a stepped-up campaign of rocket launches against Israel," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a news briefing Friday.

GAZA, Palestine, May 19, 2007 (IPC+ Agencies)- - in a phone conversation between the President Mahmoud Abbas and exiled Hamas's politburo Khaled Mashaal the pair stressed in the need to continue efforts to end the internecine infighting.

Abu Rudenha , Presidency spokesperson, said that the pair agreed in phone conversation to convene meeting in Gaza between Fateh and Hamas in Gaza to bring a halt to any fractions in the Strip.

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Saturday that Israel will not let up in its strikes against Hamas and that militants firing rockets on Israeli border towns should be "very afraid." However, he said the time is not right for a major ground offensive in Gaza.

The air strikes have driven Hamas fighters out of their bases, prompting accusations that Israel is helping the Fatah movement of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Peretz insisted Israel is not interfering in the internal fighting. However, he also said that "we certainly would like the moderate forces to emerge with the upper hand," a reference to Fatah.

Peretz also rejected the option of striking infrastructure facilities in the Gaza Strip, such as electricity, fuel, water and communications, saying such an operation "would cause the entire Palestinian population to unite around Hamas."

However, he added that the IDF was ready for "operation in any scope that the situation would demand."

Peretz said the latest IAF strikes in Gaza, targeting Hamas and focusing primarily on Kassam launch pads, manufacturing facilities and operatives transferring rockets in vehicles or traveling to the launch sites to fire them, were all planned attacks initiated by Israel, and that Israel had not been "drawn into" the situation against its will.

The UK Daily Telegraph reports that Israel is considering giving military support to the Palestinian Fatah faction in its power struggle with the Hamas Islamic faction.

Even though Fatah, the movement long led by Yasser Arafat and current leader Mahmoud Abbas, has a long record of attacks against Israel and remains on record as calling for the extinction of Israel, the Jewish state is, the Telegraph reports, "coming round to embracing the movement as a more pragmatic bulwark against Hamas, which they believe receives military aid from Iran."

"We believe that time is working against the moderates," said a member of the Israeli cabinet yesterday. "Time is of the essence when it comes to the influence of Hamas in the Gaza Strip -- to sit and do nothing, not even while we're being attacked but afterward, is something we cannot afford."

A rocket-propelled grenade fired by Hamas militants struck an Israeli army bulldozer inside the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Hamas said, as Israel launched new air strikes against the militant group, killing two Palestinians.

It was not immediately clear whether there were any Israeli casualties in the attack, the first by Hamas on Israeli soldiers who have taken up positions just inside Gaza's northern border with the Jewish state.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip --Gunmen armed with rifles, grenades and explosives climbed down from rooftop positions Saturday and residents began venturing out of bullet-scarred homes after their leaders agreed to end a week of Palestinian factional bloodshed in Gaza.

The truce began to take hold as Israel launched a fifth day of airstrikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in reprisal for the Islamic militant group's rocket attacks on Israeli border towns. Other recent cease-fires between the factions have been short-lived but Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said he expected this one to stick because of Israel's military action.