Palestinian police add to tension over Hamas

View from Israel
Israeli officials said they were encouraged by the Palestinian Authority’s show of force, but that it was too early to judge whether this is the start of a crackdown on Hamas. “We can’t say after this isolated incident whether the real battle has begun,” said the Israeli army chief, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, meanwhile, said he had high hopes for peacemaking in coming months. “I hope that in the coming year, there will be great progress in the peace process and we will implement the course that was laid out in the road map,” Sharon told the Yediot Ahronot daily.

Abbas called Sharon on Sunday with good wishes for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, which begins Monday night.

During the conversation the leaders decided to meet soon, though no date was announced, and they also “agreed to tighten cooperation and to work together to advance the peace process,” Sharon’s office said.

Sharon and Abbas originally had been scheduled to meet Sunday, but that meeting was canceled after Israel launched an offensive against militants two weeks ago in response to a barrage of rockets from Gaza at southern Israel.

Israeli airstrikes during the offensive killed four militants and destroyed buildings purportedly used to produce and store weapons. Israel also arrested nearly 500 suspected militants in the West Bank.

In Israel, thousands of soldiers and police were deployed near malls, cafes and outdoor markets to increase security ahead of the holiday. Israeli troops also barred Palestinians from entering Israel from the West Bank and Gaza, extending a measure enforced nearly two weeks ago after the rocket barrage from Gaza.

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