Palestinian militants hold fire

The new Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and the militant group Hamas have resolved for now a crisis over a cease-fire with Israel, raising hopes for a period of calm here after four years of violence.

After straining the cease-fire agreed to last week by launching rocket attacks on Israeli settlements in Gaza Thursday, Hamas agreed Saturday to refrain from immediate retaliation for Israeli army actions in the future. According to agreements reached with Mr. Abbas, Hamas now says it will consult the Palestinian Authority before taking actions.

It made the concession during talks in Gaza with Abbas while promising to adhere to a "temporary lull" in fighting, says Hassan Yusuf, the senior leader of the movement in the West Bank. "We pledge not to take the initiative in carrying out resistance operations," he says. "We will now be watching the Israeli behavior on the ground."

Hamas's position is seen as ensuring in the short term that there is no Palestinian infighting, and as a boost to Abbas's ability to make good on a commitment he made - reciprocated by Israel - at last week's summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to halt violence, Palestinian analysts say.

But sharp differences with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian militant group, remain. The factions oppose the steps Abbas must take under the international peace blueprint known as the road map, including a requirement that the PA begin weapons confiscations. Hamas has said that it will not turn over weapons "as long as there is Israeli occupation."

Moreover, Israel is unenthusiastic about the new Hamas-Abbas understandings, saying an all-out crackdown by Abbas is what is needed.

Hamas said the Thursday rocket attacks in Gaza, which caused no casualties, were a response to the Israeli army's killing of a Palestinian in the southern Gaza town of Rafah. But, coming just a day after the summit in Egypt, they were widely seen as a test for Abbas.

"I think he has passed the test and came out of it in a strong position," says Samih Shabib, a historian at Bir Zeit University near Ramallah. The same day as the rocket attacks, Abbas fired three top security forces commanders, signaling he expected forces to prevent rocketing. Also, the PA issued a statement that it and the ruling Fatah movement would act against anyone who tries "to harm the achievements of the Palestinian Authority at the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting."

In Mr. Shabib's view, Hamas's decision to cooperate with Abbas reflects the group's recognition that his approach of ending the armed intifada and reviving negotiations has wide backing abroad.

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