Wary of burying the Sharm e-Sheikh declarations of just two days ago, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon adopted the IDF's recommendations to grant Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas more time to stop Palestinian mortar fire before Israel takes military action.

The decision was not unrelated to Abbas's swift decision to sack several senior security officials in the Gaza Strip soon after Hamas violated the Sharm understandings by bombarding settlements in Gaza Thursday morning.

At the summit, Abbas declared that Palestinians would cease attacks on Israelis everywhere, and Sharon said Israel would cease all military activities against Palestinians.

Abbas's move, the first of its kind since he succeeded Yasser Arafat, was viewed by Israeli security officials as indication of the new Palestinian leader's resolve to end violence and enforce law and order in the Gaza Strip.

Sources close to Abbas said at least 25 security officers would be sacked immediately. They include General Abdel Razak Majaydah, overall commander of the National Security Forces in the Gaza Strip, General Saeb al-Ajez, commander of the Civil Police and General Omar Ashour, commander of the National Security Forces in the southern Gaza Strip, where the rockets and mortars were launched from early Thursday.

An Israeli official said that Abbas now has a golden opportunity to fill these positions with "his own people."

In addition, Abbas will meet with the leaders of Hamas in Gaza over the weekend to discuss the renewed violence. Abbas was said to be "surprised" that Hamas violated the understandings reached at Sharm e-Sheikh.

Prime minister Sharon met Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, who held consultations with top defense establishment officials throughout the day, and decided to suffice at this point with sending a warning to Abbas that Israel would not tolerate a situation where the PA was not taking "real action."

The same message was sent to Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman, as well as a warning both to the Egyptians and the Palestinians, that Israel would not sit back if there were casualties and more attacks.

According to Israeli officials, this was one of the messages OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Dan Harel brought to General Musa Arafat, a top Gaza security official when they met Thursday evening.

Israeli officials were not giving Abbas any set timetable.

The mortar attacks, coupled with an armed raid on a central Gaza jail Thursday, is more of a challenge to Abbas's authority than it is to Israel, one senior diplomatic official said.

Another Israeli official said that the assessment given by both Mofaz and the Shin Bet was to give Abbas another chance. "It was expected that after the summit there would be some friction. We have to give them a few more days."

Mofaz told the mini-cabinet on Thursday that while the mortar attacks, and Hamas continued planning of attacks, did not fit in with Abbas' declaration of a cessation of violence at Sharm, more time was needed to see how Abbas plans to respond. This was a crucial test period, he said.

Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said at the meeting that Abbas's "days of grace" were quickly running out, and that he must act "swiftly and with force" against the terror organizations. If he doesn't do so, Netanyahu said, Israel would have to take action.
 
 JersualemPost.com