HAMAS AND FATAH DECLARE CEASE-FIRE

I WONDER IF THIS WILL BE AS PHONY AS THEIR CEASE-FIRES WITH ISRAEL?

Hamas and Fatah factions in Gaza declare cease-fire (JPost)
Warring Hamas and Fatah factions in Gaza declared a cease-fire early Tuesday, set to go into effect at 3 a.m. local time (0100 GMT,) Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar of Hamas announced. Zahar spoke after a meeting between PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas and a representative of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, with the participation of Egyptian mediators. They flanked him during his statement.

Zahar said clashes that have taken more than 60 lives were to halt, security forces were to return to their bases and suspects in killings are to be handed over. As he spoke, gunfire could still be heard in Gaza City.

After nightfall Monday, an explosion ripped through the Shati refugee camp near Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's house, witnesses said. There was no immediate word of casualties. In another incident around the same time, security officials said Hamas militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a police station near Haniyeh's office in Gaza City.

On Sunday, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia called for a peace summit between Fatah and Hamas in the holy city of Mecca. In a letter sent by the king, he urged the Palestinians to convene immediately for talks in a neutral atmosphere and without pressure from outsiders. Spokesmen from each of the Hamas and Fatah factions welcomed the Saudi king's offer but did not give dates when the talks might be held.

The proposition came at the end of a particularly bloody weekend in the Palestinian territories in which at least 27 people were killed and over 80 were wounded in ferocious factional fighting.