TEL AVIV, 19 January 2005 — The unofficial armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ ruling Fatah party announced last night that it will halt its attacks in Israel proper, starting within the next 48 hours.

Zacharia Zubeidi, the Jenin commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, said his organization would also consider suspending its attacks in the West Bank if Israel likewise declared an end to its attacks.

“If Israel declares a cease-fire ... then we will consider a complete cease-fire,” Zubeida told Israel Channel One Television.

His announcement came shortly after Abbas announced he would incorporate the Al-Aqsa Brigades into the official Palestinian security forces to “protect” its members from being pursued by the Israeli Army.

Zubeidi and his men backed Abbas during his election campaign and gave him a warm welcome during a visit to Jenin.

Meanwhile, Hamas served notice of its rejection of the new Palestinian leadership’s demands for a cease-fire yesterday, killing or wounding six people in a bombing targeting a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip. The attack came hours after Abbas arrived in the territory in preparation for talks with leaders aimed at extracting a truce.

The bomber struck at a crossroads close to the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the southern Gaza Strip. The bomber blew himself up in a building where he was taken to be searched by soldiers, Israel’s Channel 10 television reported. Hamas’ military wing put out a statement claiming the attack and naming the bomber as Omar Salman Tabesh, 21, from nearby Khan Yunis. Its attack came barely two hours after Abbas arrived in Gaza for the showdown meeting with Palestinian groups, including Hamas, on his calls for a demilitarization of the more than four-year-old intifada, or uprising.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which was one of the groups that took responsibility for the earlier attack, rapidly distanced itself from the latest bombing and said it was heeding the leadership’s truce demands.

“In line with the decisions of Abu Mazen (Abbas), we are stopping all of our attacks in Israel,” said Zubeidi.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reiterated that the new Palestinian leader should expect no honeymoon period as far as his demands for a halt to violence were concerned. “Abu Mazen doesn’t need a period of adjustment; it’s not like he doesn’t know what’s happening in the field. He knows the commanders and he knows the people,” Sharon said.