The Arab forces are to patrol the areas from which Kassam rockets and mortar shells have been fired incessantly at Sderot, the western Negev and northern Gaza for the past several months.
However, Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas told local reporters this week that though he gave orders to "do whatever necessary to stop Palestinian terror in Gaza," he did not mean the use of actual force against terrorists.
"We are not interested in clashing with anyone," Abbas (Abu Mazen) told PA journalists on Monday, the day after international headlines blared his "orders" to stop terrorism. "We don't want a civil war; we have said many times that civil war is a red line."
The last rockets at northern Gaza were fired on Wednesday morning – an anti-tank missile at Netzarim, and a mortar shell that severely damaged a house in Dugit.
Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman emphasized that the deployment in northern Gaza is a test case for southern Gaza, where Jewish communities have absorbed 5,250 Kassams and mortar shells since the onset of the Oslo War in late 2000. It continues to remain up to Israel alone to protect the Israelis in those areas.
This is the second time that Israel has entrusted the security of its citizens in the hands of PA security forces. The original Gaza-Jericho Withdrawal Agreement of May 1994, several months after the signing of the Oslo Accords, stipulated, "The Palestinians will act to prevent terror against Israelis in the areas under their control." This situation lasted until 2002, when, as a result of the PA-initiated Oslo War, Israel began to gradually narrow down Area A – the areas under the PA's security control.
"Now, once again," reports Huberman, "armed PA policemen will be allowed to roam all the way up to the fence. It appears that the entire Oslo process is being repeated..."
The last of the 5,250 rocket launchings at Gush Katif occurred on Tuesday night, with a mortar shell at Morag – just two hours after the murderous suicide attack nearby in which GSS agent Oded Sharon was killed. Terrorists opened fire at two IDF outposts yesterday – one in Gush Katif, and one near Netzarim. No one was hurt.
A PA commander said that Israel had given assurances that it would not harm his men. The Arab forces, some 2,500 strong, will be deployed north and east of Gaza City, as well as in Jebalya and Beit Hanoun. Israeli and PA military commanders will continue to be in contact, in order to prevent cases of mistaken identity and accidental IDF shooting on PA policemen.
Gaza Coast Regional Council head Avner Shimoni told Arutz-7 today that he is very skeptical about the entire experiment:
"It will be judged by its results, but it appears that placing our security in their hands is an unreasonable gamble, and I hope that we will not pay a heavy price in blood. Of course, the IDF is the one that should protect us, and I fear that the situation will not change until the army initiates [major counter-terrorist offensive] Operation Defensive Shield number 2. In the past as well, armed PA policemen manned positions and were supposed to fight terror, but they were filmed being buddy-buddy with terrorists and then the latter would go off and fire at us."
Israel continued its "Give Abu Mazen a Chance" policy by opening the Rafiach crossing on the Israeli-Egyptian border. It had been closed for a month, following the terror attack on a nearby IDF base that killed five soldiers. Many hundreds of Arabs will now be allowed to enter Gaza, including those returning from the Haj in Saudi Arabia.
In addition, in a move sharply criticized by Gush Katif residents, the Gush Katif intersection has been re-opened to north-south Arab traffic. The spot was closed on Tuesday night following the attack that killed Oded Sharon. The Arabs had threatened that if the intersection remained closed, they would march en-masse and forcibly open it.
IDF sources say this will be a "critical week" for the PA, in which it will indicate its intentions regarding halting terrorism. It has been noted that this is a holiday week for Moslems, which is usually accompanied by a drop in terrorism.
Gush Katif spokesman Eran Sternberg issued a statement to the effect that the current experiment is a repeat of old Oslo mistakes: "The same ones who fire the mortars are now allowed to hold guns. Just like a cat who is trained to be a waiter and who does his job properly, but the second he sees a mouse he drops everything and runs after it - so too here: They won't change their nature. Too many times in the past it happened that they took advantage of a timeout merely to 'switch magazines' in their rifles."
However, Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas told local reporters this week that though he gave orders to "do whatever necessary to stop Palestinian terror in Gaza," he did not mean the use of actual force against terrorists.
"We are not interested in clashing with anyone," Abbas (Abu Mazen) told PA journalists on Monday, the day after international headlines blared his "orders" to stop terrorism. "We don't want a civil war; we have said many times that civil war is a red line."
The last rockets at northern Gaza were fired on Wednesday morning – an anti-tank missile at Netzarim, and a mortar shell that severely damaged a house in Dugit.
Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman emphasized that the deployment in northern Gaza is a test case for southern Gaza, where Jewish communities have absorbed 5,250 Kassams and mortar shells since the onset of the Oslo War in late 2000. It continues to remain up to Israel alone to protect the Israelis in those areas.
This is the second time that Israel has entrusted the security of its citizens in the hands of PA security forces. The original Gaza-Jericho Withdrawal Agreement of May 1994, several months after the signing of the Oslo Accords, stipulated, "The Palestinians will act to prevent terror against Israelis in the areas under their control." This situation lasted until 2002, when, as a result of the PA-initiated Oslo War, Israel began to gradually narrow down Area A – the areas under the PA's security control.
"Now, once again," reports Huberman, "armed PA policemen will be allowed to roam all the way up to the fence. It appears that the entire Oslo process is being repeated..."
The last of the 5,250 rocket launchings at Gush Katif occurred on Tuesday night, with a mortar shell at Morag – just two hours after the murderous suicide attack nearby in which GSS agent Oded Sharon was killed. Terrorists opened fire at two IDF outposts yesterday – one in Gush Katif, and one near Netzarim. No one was hurt.
A PA commander said that Israel had given assurances that it would not harm his men. The Arab forces, some 2,500 strong, will be deployed north and east of Gaza City, as well as in Jebalya and Beit Hanoun. Israeli and PA military commanders will continue to be in contact, in order to prevent cases of mistaken identity and accidental IDF shooting on PA policemen.
Gaza Coast Regional Council head Avner Shimoni told Arutz-7 today that he is very skeptical about the entire experiment:
"It will be judged by its results, but it appears that placing our security in their hands is an unreasonable gamble, and I hope that we will not pay a heavy price in blood. Of course, the IDF is the one that should protect us, and I fear that the situation will not change until the army initiates [major counter-terrorist offensive] Operation Defensive Shield number 2. In the past as well, armed PA policemen manned positions and were supposed to fight terror, but they were filmed being buddy-buddy with terrorists and then the latter would go off and fire at us."
Israel continued its "Give Abu Mazen a Chance" policy by opening the Rafiach crossing on the Israeli-Egyptian border. It had been closed for a month, following the terror attack on a nearby IDF base that killed five soldiers. Many hundreds of Arabs will now be allowed to enter Gaza, including those returning from the Haj in Saudi Arabia.
In addition, in a move sharply criticized by Gush Katif residents, the Gush Katif intersection has been re-opened to north-south Arab traffic. The spot was closed on Tuesday night following the attack that killed Oded Sharon. The Arabs had threatened that if the intersection remained closed, they would march en-masse and forcibly open it.
IDF sources say this will be a "critical week" for the PA, in which it will indicate its intentions regarding halting terrorism. It has been noted that this is a holiday week for Moslems, which is usually accompanied by a drop in terrorism.
Gush Katif spokesman Eran Sternberg issued a statement to the effect that the current experiment is a repeat of old Oslo mistakes: "The same ones who fire the mortars are now allowed to hold guns. Just like a cat who is trained to be a waiter and who does his job properly, but the second he sees a mouse he drops everything and runs after it - so too here: They won't change their nature. Too many times in the past it happened that they took advantage of a timeout merely to 'switch magazines' in their rifles."