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Sharon and Abbas talk as Israel suspends offensive

Posted on: Sunday, 2 October 2005, 12:50 CDT

By Matthew Tostevin

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed on Sunday to meet soon and improve cooperation as Israel suspended an offensive after a halt to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

Their first telephone conversation in over five weeks could help put peacemaking back on track after a surge in violence damaged hopes stirred by Israel's withdrawal from Gaza last month, which ended end 38 years of military rule there.

Abbas called Sharon with greetings for the Jewish New Year, which starts at sundown on Monday. Sharon expressed best wishes for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, starting this week.

A statement from Sharon's office said they "agreed to tighten cooperation between them and to work together to advance the process. They also agreed to meet soon in order to advance various issues that are on the agenda.

"Both leaders expressed hope that the new year would be more successful, a year of peace and hope," it said.

Israeli and Palestinian officials said no date had been set for a summit. A meeting had initially been pencilled in for Sunday, but was canceled amid a surge in violence.

PALESTINIAN INFIGHTING ERUPTS

Hours after his conversation with Sharon, Abbas faced new conflict on the home front, where Palestinian police traded fire with Hamas militants in Gaza City, wounding five people, medics and witnesses said.

Palestinian police were placed on high alert after some of the worst internal fighting since Israel withdrew its army from Gaza after demolishing all Jewish settlements there.

Abbas, under Israeli and U.S. pressure to clamp down on militants, is struggling to assert control in the coastal strip, home to 1.4 million Palestinians.

Palestinian police said Hamas gunmen had opened fire at them at an intersection in Gaza City. Hamas said the police had shot first and that two of its members had been arrested.

Witnesses said the shooting had spread to neighboring Hamas strongholds, where militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at Palestinian police stations, but caused no injury.

Israel scaled back its own offensive against militants after five days without rocket fire from Gaza, to give Abbas a chance to prevent attacks on Israel, Israeli security sources said.

Abbas began deploying forces late last week to stop fighters carrying weapons on Gaza streets and attacking Israel.

Israeli airstrikes prompted by rocket salvoes killed four gunmen in Gaza last week. Israeli forces also raided the West Bank to arrest hundreds of suspected militants. Five gunmen and a teenager were killed during raids.

Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat welcomed the Israeli decision to scale back the offensive.

"We are committed to stop violence against the Israelis anywhere," he told Reuters. "We hope that the Israeli announcement today will reflect an Israeli commitment to stop violence against Palestinians everywhere."

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah, Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem)

Source: REUTERS

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