News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas is visiting Jordan Monday on the first leg of a trip that will take him to Russia and the United States to back a ceasefire between Gaza terrorists and Israel. He is scheduled to meet American President George W. Bush next Wednesday, April 23.
 
Abbas met Sunday night with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in last-minute discussions on an unofficial ceasefire. Terrorists in Gaza, where Hamas took control of the administration in a militia war last June, have attacked Israel with rockets, mortars and sniper fire on a daily basis. Israel has retaliated with occasional targeting of terrorists.

Observers have maintained that any agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) is not practical so long as Hamas controls Gaza and continues to sponsor terrorist attacks.