Noted Mideast terrorist groups Hamas and Iran-backed Islamic Jihad, as well as the Palestinian Authority, have denied they agreed to end attacks against Israel for three months, saying they haven’t received assurances from the Jewish state or the U.S.
“We still haven’t received any American guarantees or replies from Israel, which is continuing to avoid holding another round of security meetings with the Palestinian Authority,” Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a senior adviser to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, told the Jerusalem Post today.
“In any case, efforts to reach a cease-fire are facing huge problems because of the ongoing Israeli policy of assassinations and [military] escalation,” he added, noting that the PA was waiting for U.S. and Israeli assurances that military escalation would stop.
The Associated Press reported earlier in the day that a senior member of Arafat’s Fatah faction announced the cease-fire deal had been signed. The news service reported the agreement as a breakthrough for a U.S.-backed peace plan.
Rather, Abu Rudaineh says, the organizations have reached an understanding on a cease-fire. But the Post said the PA was still awaiting a reply from Hamas and Islamic Jihad on whether those groups had accepted the deal.
“The position of the PA and the PLO is very clear [in favor of a cease-fire],” he told the paper. “We expect a positive reply from the brothers in Hamas and Islamic Jihad to the cease-fire proposal. The national Palestinian interest requires a united position, but we want assurances from the U.S. and Israel so that things would start moving forward.”
The AP reported Israel had dismissed the Islamic deal as one of no consequence or binding. Shortly after it was initially reported, Israel sent helicopter gunships against a squad of Islamic militants belonging to Hamas that were allegedly set to carry out rocket attacks.
Palestinian officials said two people were killed in that assault.
Abu Rudaineh said that so far the U.S. had failed to persuade Israel to pull out of regions recaptured since hostilities began anew in the current wave of violence. He also said Israel had failed to halt its policy of targeted assassinations.
Meanwhile, in Gaza City, Ismail Abu Haniyeh, a senior Hamas official, also denied rumors that his movement has accepted the cease-fire proposal, the Post said.
“The reports according to which we have agreed to a hudna [cease-fire] are completely unfounded and untrue,” he said, adding that negotiations were continuing nonetheless.
“We are seriously discussing the proposal in order to rid our people of the challenges in a way that serves the interests of all Palestinians,” said Abu Haniyeh.
Islamic Jihad officials also denied reports of the agreement.
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WND Staff