Abbas orders Palestinian crackdown on militants
RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday ordered Palestinian security forces to stop attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis.
The move comes after a Palestinian attack Thursday on the Gaza-Israel border that killed six Israeli civilians. (Full story)
Abbas has ordered an investigation of the attack for which three Palestinian militant groups -- Hamas, the Popular Resistance and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -- claimed responsibility.
The use of Palestinian security forces to rein in Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets has long been a key sticking point in the Mideast peace process between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri told The Associated Press that the group would not comply with the new orders. "We consider resistance as a red line, and no one is allowed to cross this line," al-Masri said, according to the AP.
In 2003, when Abbas was Palestinian prime minister, Israel and the United States pressured him to persuade militants to end their attacks. But Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat insisted on retaining control over Palestinian security.
On Saturday, Abbas was sworn in to replace Arafat, who died in November of an unknown illness. (Full story)
Israel had refused to negotiate with Arafat -- accusing him of abandoning the peace process by not reining in militants. If Abbas also fails to do so, he runs the risk that Israel will level similar accusations against him.
Abbas gave the orders during a Monday meeting of his Cabinet, said Saeb Erakat, a Cabinet member. Abbas also ordered that Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades be integrated into Palestinian security forces, Erakat said.
Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is a military offshoot of the Fatah movement that has claimed responsibility for attacks on Israeli military and civilian targets. Abbas has assumed the leadership of Fatah, which Arafat once headed.
In response to Abbas' orders, Israeli commanders said major operations in Gaza have been put on hold to give Abbas time to act.
Sharon aide Ra'anan Gissin called Monday's Cabinet decision a "small step in the right direction," according to the AP.
"Now we have to see how it happens on the ground, based on things that were said," Gissin told the AP.
Erakat said Monday the Palestinian Cabinet met with security force commanders and ordered them to stop violence against Israelis anywhere.
Cabinet ministers also repeated a call for Israel to return to the bargaining table for peace talks, he said.
Erakat said Abbas would go to Gaza on Wednesday to get all Palestinian factions to agree to the Cabinet's call and to an appeal by the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee to halt attacks on Israelis.
During his presidential campaign, Abbas said he hoped to persuade Palestinian militants to stop their attacks.
Following Thursday's attack at the Karni Crossing between Gaza and Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered all contact with the Palestinian Authority suspended and complained that Abbas had "not lifted a single finger" to stop terrorist attacks.
On Monday, a senior Israeli official said that if Palestinian security forces are redeployed near the border crossings, contacts between Israel and the Palestinian Authority can resume.
On Sunday, Sharon announced Israeli forces would conduct anti-terrorist operations against Palestinians "without restrictions" until the Palestinian Authority acts against terrorists. (Full story)
CNN's John Vause and Riad Ali contributed to this report.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
