The Palestinian Authority (PA) also plans to demand that Israel free 4,000 prisoners, and its courts are clamping down on "collaborators" who help Israel. If the PA prevents attacks in southern Israel for a short while, its president Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) will demand in return a massive prisoner release, according to Ben Caspit of the Hebrew Maariv newspaper.
Another sign of Abu Mazen's tightening grip on the PA as well as hardening his stance against Israel came this week when PA courts sentenced five people to 15-20 years in jail for helping Israel search for and kill wanted terrorists. About 60 more "collaborators" face trial. Two other suspected collaborators were executed last week without a trial.
Israeli defense sources so far are cautiously optimistic after two days pf relative quiet following the PA's deployment of more than 2,500 armed security forces throughout Gaza. Hamas has backed down in the last two days from its previous refusal to stop attacking Jewish communities. However, despite the massive police force, terrorists succeeded Friday in shooting two anti-tank missiles against IDF forces near the town of Neve Dekalim in Gush Katif, and Golani troops fired at two terrorists who were attempting to fire similar missiles.
Abu Mazen this past week has offered money and positions to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade terrorists in return for their helping to patrol against the same terrorist attacks it has organized. He brought in the security forces under intense pressure from the United States and European countries.
If he succeeds in bring short-term quiet for Israelis who have suffered more than 5,000 rocket and mortar attacks in four and a half years, Israel may find itself dealing with a PA that has "democratized" terrorist gangs. Hamas terrorists have distributed a new document that calls for the PA and Hamas to share a joint leadership.
The Hamas document emphasizes that cooperation with the PA is based on "a commitment to ending the occupation and the establishment of an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state, whose capital is Jerusalem." The proposal does not include a promise to stop terrorism but rather repeats the pledge for "the legitimacy of the armed struggle, the political struggle and all the Jihadist means."
The Hamas position paper has been delivered to PA leaders, who had asked Hamas to respond to Abu Mazen's cease-fire demands by Sunday, according to the Haaretz newspaper.
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Another sign of Abu Mazen's tightening grip on the PA as well as hardening his stance against Israel came this week when PA courts sentenced five people to 15-20 years in jail for helping Israel search for and kill wanted terrorists. About 60 more "collaborators" face trial. Two other suspected collaborators were executed last week without a trial.
Israeli defense sources so far are cautiously optimistic after two days pf relative quiet following the PA's deployment of more than 2,500 armed security forces throughout Gaza. Hamas has backed down in the last two days from its previous refusal to stop attacking Jewish communities. However, despite the massive police force, terrorists succeeded Friday in shooting two anti-tank missiles against IDF forces near the town of Neve Dekalim in Gush Katif, and Golani troops fired at two terrorists who were attempting to fire similar missiles.
Abu Mazen this past week has offered money and positions to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade terrorists in return for their helping to patrol against the same terrorist attacks it has organized. He brought in the security forces under intense pressure from the United States and European countries.
If he succeeds in bring short-term quiet for Israelis who have suffered more than 5,000 rocket and mortar attacks in four and a half years, Israel may find itself dealing with a PA that has "democratized" terrorist gangs. Hamas terrorists have distributed a new document that calls for the PA and Hamas to share a joint leadership.
The Hamas document emphasizes that cooperation with the PA is based on "a commitment to ending the occupation and the establishment of an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state, whose capital is Jerusalem." The proposal does not include a promise to stop terrorism but rather repeats the pledge for "the legitimacy of the armed struggle, the political struggle and all the Jihadist means."
The Hamas position paper has been delivered to PA leaders, who had asked Hamas to respond to Abu Mazen's cease-fire demands by Sunday, according to the Haaretz newspaper.
Click here for our free Daily Newsletter from Israel