I do not know if this violates the moratorium. I'm sure it will degenerate, if the thread goes anywhere at all. It seems more like a pal vs pal thing. anyway. Discuss (Or lock...or whatever...)
Hamas dismisses PLO call to end attacks against Israel
Islamist group PLO’s call helps Israel justify its military operations in occupied territories as violence continues.
GAZA CITY - Hamas dismissed Monday a demand by the Palestine Liberation Organisation to halt attacks against Israel, saying such a call helped Israel justify its military operations in the occupied territories.
"We are sorry to say that some people are using this name (the PLO) to issue a demand which is at odds with the aims of the Palestinian people," Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for the radical Islamist group, said.
"This kind of statement only helps the Zionist enemy and gives it an excuse to continue the occupation and legalises its aggressions."
The PLO's decision-making executive committee issued a statement on Sunday which called for an end to military acts which it said harmed "the national interest" and gave the Israeli government an excuse to stall the peace process.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon severed all contacts with the Palestinian Authority in the wake of a suicide attack on a border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip which was carried out by Hamas and two other armed factions.
Sharon has subsequently given the army carte blanche to put an end to attacks by Gaza-based militants.
Newly-elected Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas, who is also chairman of the PLO, has called for an end to the armed uprising and is trying to persuade groups such as Hamas to agree on a new ceasefire.
Abu Zuhri confirmed that the leadership of Hamas in its Gaza stronghold would hold talks with Abbas here on Wednesday.
Abbas has given his security services orders to prevent attacks by the militant groups although Israel is pushing him to dismantle what it calls "the terrorist infrastructure."
Meanwhile, two members of the radical Palestinian movement Islamic Jihad were shot dead by Israeli forces close to a border crossing in the south of the Gaza Strip on Monday, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.
The two men were named as Ahmed Ashur, 21, and 22-year-old Nidal Saadaq who were both from the Khan Yunis area.
Israeli military sources said that they had opened fire at the pair after they had been spotted carrying an anti-tank rocket launcher near the Kissufim border crossing.
Troops initially identified hitting one of the militants but as they went to retrieve his body they then came under fire from the second who was then killed as well.
Medics said that the two bodies had now been returned to the Palestinian authorities for burial.
The latest deaths bring the overall toll since the September 2000 start of the Palestinian uprising to 4,708, including 3,654 Palestinians and 979 Israelis.
