Kassam lands in Sderot despite ceasefire agreement

IDF withdrew forces by 6 a.m. as per agreement; PA spokesman condemns attack; Miri Eisen: If Israel is attacked, we will respond.

By HERB KEINON, JPOST STAFF
Published: NOVEMBER 26, 2006 08:38
Two Kassam rockets were fired from Gaza on Sunday morning despite the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestinian factions which became effective at 6 a.m. and was followed by the IDF's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. One of the rockets landed in open territory in the western Negev, while the other landed in northern Sderot. No one was wounded and no damage was reported. "Let's hope that's just the problems of the beginning," government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said. "But if Israel is attacked, we will respond. If there are Palestinian factions that are not part of the cease-fire, it's hard to see how the cease-fire will hold." Palestinian Authority spokesman Ghazi Hamed also criticized the attacks, telling BBC Arabic that the rocket fire was a "blatant violation" of the ceasefire. Hamed added that all Palestinian factions had taken part in the agreement on Saturday. The Palestinian offer was accepted by Israel on Saturday night, and was set to halt operations in Gaza in return for an end to all Palestinian violence, including rocket fire, tunneling and suicide bombers, the Prime Minister's Office announced. Saturday's dramatic announcement followed a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
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  • Forget politics, do your jobs (editorial) According to the Prime Minister's Office, Abbas phoned Olmert and told him he had received an agreement from all the different Palestinian factions to the cease-fire, and in response "requested that Israel would stop all military operations in the Gaza Strip, and withdraw all its forces from there." The statement said that after speaking to his senior ministers and top security officials, Olmert told Abbas that Israel would respond favorably "since Israel was operating in the Gaza Strip in response to the [Palestinian] violence." Olmert, according to the statement, told Abbas that "the end of the violence could bring about the end of Israeli operations, and his hope that this would bring stability to both sides."