A cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian Authority supposedly took effect yesterday at 3 pm, but violence continues to rage throughout the West Bank and Gaza. A Palestinian motorist was killed by gunmen northeast of Jerusalem late last night, and an Israeli security official was killed in an ambush south of Jerusalem late this morning.

Israeli and Palestinian officials continue to dispute the terms of the deal, issuing contradictory statements about what each side is obliged to do, and in which order. There is even doubt whether either side signed the "workplan" offered by CIA Director Tenet, who has since left the region.

Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said

IDF to redeploy for "peacetime operations" - Ben-Eliezer

that Israel is easing restrictions on the movement of Palestinian security forces and lifting closures inside the Palestinian territories.

However, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said this morning that Israel will not withdraw its forces or lift restrictions in areas in the West Bank and Gaza where shooting continues.

The apparent result in the field is a situation of partial pullbacks and considerable confusion.

Reuters reported this morning that the IDF withdrew tanks and removed a roadblock near the isolated settlement of Netzarim in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. A Reuters TV cameraman at the scene said there were no tanks in the area - only army jeeps - and that Palestinian traffic was flowing freely in an area that has been a flashpoint of fighting throughout the Intifada.

Interviewed on IDF Radio this morning, Ben-Eliezer expressed satisfaction with the implementation of the cease-fire so far. Despite the spate of shooting incidents in the West Bank and Gaza, including the firing of mortars on several Gush Katif settlements and the killing of a Palestinian motorist near Jerusalem, Ben-Eliezer said that he was pleased with a relatively quiet night.

Israel is now allowing the transfer of goods and merchandise into the territories from international crossings and points inside the Green Line.

In addition, Ha'aretz reports that the IDF has issued extremely strict rules of engagement to its troops - in many respects more severe than they were last September, before the outbreak of the Intifada. Soldiers are permitted to open fire only in cases involving direct threat to life or "substantial" attacks by Palestinians. Use of helicopters and tanks will only be permitted in most extreme circumstances.

The authority to call for support from heavy weapons will be the responsibility of senior Generals and Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. During a meeting at Beit El yesterday between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and senior IDF commanders of units in the West Bank, he said that "now we need to deploy according to peace-time operations."

"Read my lips": Palestinian acceptance of cease-fire conditional
Jibril Rajoub, head of Preventive Security for the PA in the West Bank, told IDF Radio this morning that the Palestinians have been making a "100% effort" to enforce a cease-fire since June 2 when Arafat declared a cease-fire. However, when asked to comment on the position taken last night by PA Minister Sa'eb Erekat that as far as the Palestinian Authority is concerned, the cease-fire does not go into effect until Israel lifts the closure on the territories, Rajoub reiterated the position that the cease-fire will not be enforced until closure is lifted.

The Palestinians also objected to the existence of "buffer zones" between Israeli and Palestinian friction points, believing that these represent tacit American approval of Israel's "creeping annexation" of additional territory.

The radical Islamic organizations, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, announced they will not observe the cease-fire agreement. However, Israeli security sources believe that the Islamic opposition is not inclined to challenge Arafat's authority at this point.

However, Ha'aretz reports that at least one senior IDF source said "the Palestinians have so far not done a thing to arrest the next suicide bomber. The information regarding possible attacks are still valid; at any moment we could experience an attack inside the Green Line."

The officer's warnings appear to be partially validated by a senior Palestinian source who said yesterday "if the Israelis think we will embark on a wave of arrests, they are wrong. We will carry out low profile arrests on a limited scale. In any case, these will not be retroactive arrests on acts that were already punished, only for preventive purposes."

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo highlighted the fact that the two sides did not sign any document for a cease-fire, and insisted that the PA does not intend to fulfill parts of the agreement which it regards to be contrary to the Mitchell Committee reports. He told a news conference that this was a firm position, quoting the famous if ill-fated line of former U.S. President George Bush, Sr.: "Read my lips."

U.S. President George W. Bush welcomed the cease-fire with "cautious optimism" but stressed that the test would not be documents signed (or not signed, as the case may be) but actions implemented in the field. A sign of the American wait-and-see attitude was reflected in a decision not to send Secretary of State Colin Powell to the region, at least not in the coming weeks.

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