Olmert upbeat on Gaza truce but warns militants

Tel Aviv, Dec 8: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said hewas satisfied with a shaky Gaza Strip ceasefire but could order renewedmilitary crackdowns if needed to prevent armed Palestinian factionsposing a threat.

The November 26 truce was cast by Olmert and moderate PalestinianPresident Mahmoud Abbas as a chance to revive diplomacy stalled sinceHamas took over the Palestinian government in March. But there havebeen daily infractions.

Israeli troops wounded two Palestinians who approached the Gaza border fence yesterday, the second such shooting this week.

Palestinian militants have continued sporadic rocket fire into the Jewish state, causing consternation but no casualties.

Olmert, who championed last year's unilateral Israeli withdrawalfrom Gaza in the face of right-wingers who argued the impoverishedcoastal territory would become a hotbed of Islamic militants, said hewas closely monitoring events there.

''I am very happy with the ceasefire,'' Olmert told a conferenceof newspaper editors in Tel Aviv yesterday, adding Abbas had made thefirst overture.

''I think this was a step that warranted a response by us, butwith that said, we will not resign ourselves to the creation of a forcethat threatens the peace of Israel from Gaza,'' he said. ''If weconclude that we have to take action in the future to prevent such asituation, we will find a way to do so.'' Under the truce, Israelhalted offensive operations in Gaza, and Abbas secured agreements frommilitant groups spearheading a more than 6-year-old Palestinian revoltto suspend cross-border rocket launches and arms smuggling.

The deal does not extend to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, another territory where Palestinians seek statehood.

But Palestinian militant groups have said continued Israeli raids in the West Bank could prompt them to resume attacks.

Hamas sees Truce Ending

Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for the armedwing of the Hamas Islamist movement, said in a statement posted on thegroup's Web site that it was ''very possible and most likely'' to calloff the truce within days.

Even in the current hiatus, Abu Ubaida said, Hamas was ''wastingno opportunity to plan attacks against the enemy, though the operationswill have to come in time''.

Unlike Abbas's more moderate Fatah faction, Hamas advocatesIsrael's destruction and has resisted international pressure tomoderate its stance despite a Western aid embargo.

Israel launched several major Gaza sweeps after gunmen includingHamas members abducted a soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit, and killed twoothers in a June cross-border raid.

More than 400 Palestinians, around half of them militants, werekilled in the offensive, according to Palestinian hospital officialsand residents. There has been no sign of Shalit.

Olmert recently signalled a new willingness to negotiate forShalit's return via Egyptian emissaries. Hamas has demanded Israel freehundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including militant leaders, inexchange for the soldier.

In Thursday's violence, the army said a group of Palestiniansapproached the border fence near the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiyaand began to sabotage it.

Soldiers fired warning shots that were ignored, before hitting two men in separate incidents, the army added.

Palestinian hospital officials said two brothers had been wounded. Residents said the men were collecting scrap metal.

Reuters