Arafat Says Formal Cease-Fire Imminent

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Thursday a formal cease-fire announcement was imminent after Palestinian negotiators secured a commitment from Islamic militants to halt attacks on Israelis for three months.

A senior Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the declaration probably would be made ahead of the arrival of U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, who is expected in the region Saturday evening. Hamas officials said they needed a few days to wrap up an agreement.

Despite the emerging deal, violence continued. A Palestinian – reportedly 15 years old – killed an Israeli phone company technician in a shooting attack near the West Bank before being seriously wounded by a security guard. A militia linked to Arafat’s Fatah movement claimed responsibility.

Later Thursday, Israeli border police killed two Palestinians who had infiltrated into Israel’s north from the West Bank and were planning a bomb attack, police said.

Palestinians also fired several mortar shells and homemade rockets at a Jewish settlement in Gaza and an Israeli community bordering the strip. In the West Bank, Israel razed the house of a Hamas militant who allegedly recruited suicide bombers.

A truce might help end 33 months of violence, a necessary prelude to the U.S.-backed “road map” plan aimed at establishing a Palestinian state by 2005. The plan requires the Palestinians to break up the armed groups, but Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas has ruled out using force for fear of civil war.

The truce deal was negotiated by Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian uprising leader jailed by Israel, and the heads of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups in Damascus, Syria. Barghouti, using envoys, acted on behalf of Palestinian leaders, the negotiators said.

Arafat told reporters at his West Bank headquarters Thursday that a formal announcement would be made soon.

“Until now, it has not been officially decided, but we expect that in the coming few hours, there will be a declaration,” he said, but did not say where the announcement would be made.

Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said more time was needed.

“There is a great deal of communication between all the parties which has intensified … but at this point, I don’t expect that there will be a declaration about our position … in the coming hours,” he said.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders in the Gaza Strip have insisted the deal is not final, while Israel and the United States are skeptical about its value, saying Palestinian security forces must quickly disarm the militias.

Israeli Vice Premier Ehud Olmert said a truce would give the militias time to regroup and prepare for new attacks.

“What they (the Palestinian security forces) want to do is give them (the militias) a period to recover,” Olmert told Israel Radio.

As part of the truce talks, the Palestinian militias had sought guarantees from Israel that it will halt all military strikes, including targeted killings of wanted Palestinians.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a senior Arafat aide, said that “we’re still waiting for guarantees from the Americans to force Israel to stop its assassination policy,” a reference to the killings of militants.

Israel has said it cannot give a blanket promise to halt strikes against Palestinians planning attacks as long as Palestinian security forces don’t act against the armed groups. It wants the armed groups dismantled, as called for in the road map.

President Bush, siding with Israel, said Wednesday that “in order for there to be peace in the Middle East, we must see organizations such as Hamas dismantled, and then we’ll have peace, we’ll have a chance for peace.”

The White House on Thursday showed no more enthusiasm about the cease-fire reports than it did the day before.

“The president is interested in real progress on the ground, in the dismantlement of terrorism, and in an end to the killing,” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

Shortly after AP reported on the emerging cease-fire Wednesday, Israeli helicopters fired rockets at a car carrying a Hamas militant in the Gaza Strip, killing two bystanders and wounding 17 people. Among those hurt was the targeted man, Mohammed Siam, who Israel said was on his way to fire mortars at a Jewish settlement.

Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid, head of the moderate Shinui party, said Israel should give a truce a chance.

“If they will stop their terror attacks, we can stop the activities against them, and that way we can see if they … support the road map or are taking advantage of the cease-fire,” he told AP.

The truce deal was negotiated over the past few weeks by Barghouti, a leader of Arafat’s Fatah movement on trial for his alleged role in attacks that killed 26 Israelis.

With Israel’s knowledge, Barghouti forwarded documents to Khaled Mashal of Hamas and Ramadan Shalah of Islamic Jihad in Damascus. Egyptian officials and Abbas have also been pressing the militants.

On Wednesday, Palestinian legislator Kadoura Fares announced that after weeks of intensive negotiation, “the Palestinian dialogue has resulted in a cease-fire agreement for a period of three months.”

He said that if there was quiet during this period the truce could be extended. The truce covers not only Israel, but also the West Bank and Gaza Strip – a key Israeli demand. The document also demands that Israel begin releasing Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas is under enormous pressure from the Arab world, the United States and Europe. There are efforts to dry up its funding, and Israel has made clear it will target its leaders in military strikes if attacks go on.

A senior Hamas envoy was en route from Damascus to Cairo on Thursday to deliver the Barghouti document to Egypt, according to a Palestinian source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Israel’s security establishment questioned whether a cease-fire would hold. A deal negotiated by Hamas leaders abroad might not be respected by local militants, particularly those in the West Bank, said one official.