Abbas will 'try to persuade Hamas to stop'

In response to Palestinian terror and rocket attacks that have killed 6 Israelis and wounded over 12 the past few days, newly elected Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday he would try to negotiate a "cease fire" with Hamas and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, but refused to crack down militarily on terror groups.

Last night a Kassam rocket fired by terrorists into the Israeli border town of Sderot critically wounded a 14 year-old Israeli girl and seriously wounded four others. Also yesterday a seven-year-old Israeli boy was wounded and lost his arm after a mortar shell hit his house in a nearby town.

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The violence followed a deadly terrorist attack last week at the Karni terminal crossing in the Gaza Strip that killed six Israelis and wounded five more. The Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack, as did Hamas and the umbrella Popular Resistance Committee. Abbas' political party Fatah applauded "a martyrdom operation" at Karni, which is the main crossing point for goods transported to and from Gaza.

Under increased Israeli and U.S. pressure to crack down on terror groups, Abbas vowed to visit leaders of "various Palestinian organizations" later this week for talks with leaders about ways of reaching a temporary truce with Israel, a senior PA official in Ramallah said.

The official said Abbas would try to "persuade the armed groups to stop their attacks on Israel."

But Israel has been demanding Abbas crack down militarily on Palestinian terror groups, calling cease fires insufficient.

PA Communications Minister Azzam al-Ahmed dismissed as "impractical" Israel's demand that the PA dismantle terrorist groups. "We are calling for an end to the cycle of violence," he said. "The first step should be a mutual truce ... We are confident that, through dialogue, we would be able to reach an agreement that would help the Palestinian Authority fulfill its obligations under the terms of the road map."

Middle East analysts are worried Palestinian terror groups are planning to step up attacks ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's planned unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank this summer in an attempt to claim Israel is retreating under fire.

An internal Hamas memo recently obtained by WorldNetDaily called the withdrawal a capitulation to terror and said Hamas is planning to continue its "armed struggle" against the Jewish state until "all territories" are in Palestinian hands.

The confidential memo, written by Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar, Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, states, "The withdrawal is an achievement for our people and for the intifada and is considered the result of the victims they sacrificed. [Hamas] must continue to ensure the enemy's withdrawal must be unconditional ... The withdrawal confirms the willingness, correctness, and usefulness of employing an armed struggle and its ability to attain political objectives."