Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas declared a ceasefire on terrorist attacks from the Gaza area and IDF counter-terrorists actions. A Kassam rocket landed in an open area in the western Negev about 75 minutes after the PA ceasefire was declared.
The ceasefire is to halt Kassam rocket fire into Israel, the digging of weapons smuggling tunnels, and the dispatching of suicide bombers. Abbas assured Prime Minister Olmert that all factions have agreed to adhere to the ceasefire.
--Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told residents of the northern Bedouin city of Rahat that the ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) "could contribute to the speedy release of Gilad Shalit." The IDF soldier was kidnapped in June by terrorists in an attack staged in Israel from the Gaza region, and his condition is not known. He is presumed to be alive.
--The Palestinian Authority agreement to halt terrorist attacks from the Gaza area does not obligate it to halt arms smuggling, according Amos Gilad, senior advisor to Israel's Minister of Defense He explained that preventing weapons from crossing into the Gaza area is the responsibility of Egypt as well as the PA and therefore is not subject to the truce.