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[igotthisguitar]

Rival Palestinians call truce; Israel kills three
Wed Jun 07, 03:36 PM EST

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - The Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas group agreed on Wednesday to halt their clashes even as they headed for a showdown over Abbas's threat to hold a referendum on a statehood proposal.

Violence flared at the Gaza border with Israel as Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian policeman and two civilians and wounded five other people, medics and witnesses said.

The Israeli army said troops opened fire at three men they suspected were trying to infiltrate the tense frontier near the Karni commercial crossing.

Witnesses said the troops fired more than once and shot artillery and a missile from a pilotless drone. Medics said some of the injuries suggested artillery fire was used.

The army denied using artillery fire.

Israeli troops have increased their vigilance along the border amid an upsurge in rocket firings from Gaza. A rocket hurt an Israeli woman when it slammed into a home on Tuesday. Israel responded by an aerial bombing of a rocket depot in Gaza.

Witnesses said Israeli artillery gunners also pounded other parts of Gaza, in an apparent response to rocket launchings, setting off loud explosions.

Abbas has given the Hamas government until the end of the week to accept a manifesto calling for a Palestinian state that implicitly recognises Israel or face a vote on the issue.

Hamas trounced Fatah in January parliamentary elections and has been locked in a power struggle with Abbas ever since.

The president would issue a decree on Saturday setting the stage for the referendum if the Hamas Islamists still refused to back the proposal, Abbas's spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdainah, said.

With shootouts between Hamas and Fatah now frequent, many Palestinians fear a referendum could trigger more violence.

But after a meeting in the impoverished Gaza strip brokered by Egyptian officials, Fatah and Hamas leaders urged calm.

"We order men from Fatah and Hamas to respect the holiness of Palestinian blood," said Khalil Al-Hayya, a Hamas leader.

Fatah lawmaker Majed Abu Shammala said both sides hoped to end internal violence that has killed nearly 20 people in Gaza in the past month. Previous agreements to end factional bloodshed have not lasted long.

A government spokesman, Ghazi Hamad, said members of a 3,000-strong new paramilitary force set up by Hamas would be pulled off Gaza's streets and redeployed to limited locations to ease tensions.

The force inaugurated last month despite Abbas's opposition, has been a key source of tension with Fatah.

CONFIDENCE VOTE

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/07062006/6/n-world-rival-palestinians-call-truce-israel-kills-three.html

[rapier]

Relinquishing gaza simply opened up a new front for terrorism.
Whereas in the past they controlled occupied territory, they are now forced to bomb an independant state for their own security.

[fiveeagles]

One of Bush's biggest mistakes was forcing Israel's hand on giving up Gaza.

2 I will gather all nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. [a]
There I will enter into judgment against them
concerning my inheritance, my people Israel,
for they scattered my people among the nations
and divided up my land.
Joel 3