Israel and the Palestinian factions in Gaza Strip started a cease-fire on Sunday at 6 A.M., following an agreement reached between Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian factions. The Israeli army said all forces were withdrawn from Gaza Strip in the hours before the cease-fire commenced.
Minutes before the ceasefire went into effect, Palestinian gunners fired at least three rockets at Israel. No injuries were reported. However, two major Palestinian groups said they had no intention of stopping their attacks. Israel said at least eight rockets have landed around the town of Sderot since the truce was declared.
Spokesman of the PA government Dr. Ghazi Hamad affirmed that all Palestinian factions have agreed to heed calls from PA premier Ismail Haneyya and PA Abbas to calm down.
He also asserted that the factions clearly agreed to unite in retaliating to any Israeli breach of the calm, and that none of those factions have raised objections or reservations over that principle. "We hope that all factions will abide by the truce agreement as long as the Israeli occupation government reciprocates without any breaches", Hamad said as he commented on firing a number of Palestinian rockets after the truce went into effect.
He added, "Maybe some groups have unleashed those missiles; yet we will form a committee to investigate the matter as we are very much concerned with preserving the agreement".
Israeli sources said the Palestinians had agreed to stop ricket fire, suicide bombings and the digging of tunnels.
Abbas called Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Saturday night to convey him about the details of the deal reached among the Palestinian factions. Olmert told Abbas that Israel would stop its military activities and remove its forces from Gaza Strip in response to the cease-fire in the hope it would hold and serve both sides, Haaretz reported.
Abbas met with his security chiefs Sunday and ordered them to send their forces to the Gaza Strip border area to prevent any more rocket attacks, according to Palestinian security officials.
On his part, Olmert ordered the army to show restraint in the face of the rockets, said his spokeswoman, Miri Eisin. "Israel is a strong country which can allow itself to have the strength to both fight and also to show restraint and to give the cease-fire a chance to be implemented," Eisin quoted Olmert as saying during a ceremony at a high school in southern Israel.
According to the AP, a senior Israeli official said Israel would wait a few hours to see if the attacks were isolated breaches or a full-scale violation of the agreement before deciding whether to respond.
