A step in the right direction

[HorhayAtAMD]

Hopefully the Palestinian police officers actually do something when the rockets are fired into Israel. Who wants to bet that if they do, they are publicly lynched and murdered for being Israeli sympathizers? Eh, maybe I'm just cynical.

GAZA - Hundreds of Palestinian police officers could be guarding the Gaza-Israel frontier by Friday, after military officials from both sides agreed to the deployment late Wednesday.

It is potentially the first substantial act of Palestinian-Israeli co-operation in cracking down on cross-border violence under the freshly elected Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The agreement is intended to avert a threatened Israeli military raid on Gaza, following a series of deadly attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis in recent weeks.

Israeli officials said up to 1,000 Palestinian officers would be deployed, and that Israel accepted the plan. "We are facilitating it and co-ordinating [the plan], so it will go forward," one unnamed official told the Associated Press.

In return, Israel may reopen some major Gaza border roads, including the Rafah crossing into Egypt on Friday. The main exit point for Gaza Palestinians travelling abroad, it has been closed since a Dec. 12 attack on an Israeli military post killed five soldiers.

Israel threatened major raid

Last Friday, Israel broke off high-level contacts and threatened a major military reprisal if the Palestinian leadership did not rein in militants, after six Israelis died in an attack at a Gaza-Israel crossing point.

A Palestinian suicide bombing that killed an Israeli security agent at a Gaza checkpoint on Tuesday escalated tensions.

In their security meeting with Israeli counterparts on Wednesday, Palestinian generals presented a detailed plan for stopping rocket fire and infiltrations of Palestinian militants into Israel.

"We told [the Israeli generals] that we are arranging a plan to deploy the Palestinian security forces into both the northern and southern parts of Gaza," said Palestinian security chief Maj.-Gen. Moussa Arafat.

"In the first stage, it will be in the north, and then we will move into the south," he added.

Success for Abbas and Sharon

The meeting was a sign of success by Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in defusing their first crisis – though the situation remains volatile and renewed attacks by Palestinian militants could yet trigger major violence.

Abbas has been holding talks with leaders of militant groups in Gaza since Tuesday, and was said to be edging closer to a truce with them. The militants said they were ready to halt attacks, provided Israel stopped military operations – a promise Israel has refused to make.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said Abbas had been trying to persuade militants to halt their attacks, and called on Israel to make a move as well. "A ceasefire by the Palestinians requires a ceasefire by the Israelis," he told a news conference.

The news of the planned deployment came as Israeli security forces shot dead a 13-year-old Palestinian boy who reportedly was part of crowd throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers near the West Bank village of Tubas.

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[dilloduck]

crossing my fingers but holding my breath is a bit too optimistic at this point

 

[Said1]

Hopefully the Palestinian police officers actually do something when the rockets are fired into Israel. Who wants to bet that if they do, they are publicly lynched and murdered for being Israeli sympathizers? Eh, maybe I'm just cynical.


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Damn, beat me to it!

 

[5stringJeff]

I sure hope the Palestinians can start policing their own people. It sure would go a long way in making other countries see their government as legit, instead of a bunch of thugs and terrorists.