Palestinian Authority police, enforcing a ceasefire with Israel, arrested two men from a suspected Hamas Qassam rocket squad after a gun battle in the Gaza Strip
but freed the terrorists soon after, officials said on Tuesday.
Commenting on the release, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation could succeed only if the Palestinian Authority mounted a "continuous, ongoing effort against the terrorists."
"If we start seeing a revolving door, as we saw in the past ... this would not be a good sign," Regev said, alluding to Israeli complaints that Palestinian authorities under the late Yasser Arafat released suspected militants too quickly.
Egyptian intervention
Hamas said the pair detained in the northern Gaza Strip were not planning to fire rockets but confirmed that they were armed - defying a recent order that only Palestinian security forces should carry weapons on the streets.
The clash late on Monday was the first between Palestinian police and terrorists since Arafat's successor, Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, ordered an "iron fist" crackdown on April 28.
Qassam rocket fire into Israel has become much more rare but it has not stopped.
News of the incident, which coincided with renewed calls by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for Abbas to disarm militants to meet the terms of the U.S.-backed "road map," sent tension soaring in Gaza, Hamas' main powerbase.
Palestinian Interior Ministry Spokesman Toufiq Abu Khoussa said the men were let go on Tuesday following intervention by an Egyptian official in Gaza.
In return for their freedom, the two terrorists promised to abide by an agreement that terror factions reached with Abbas in
Cairo in March to respect the ceasefire the Palestinian leader declared along with Sharon in February, Abu Khoussa said.
Gunfight
Describing the clash, Abu Khoussa said a third militant had escaped arrest.
"The three were in a car, en route to fire rockets, when police waved for them to stop; gunmen opened fire at the police, forcing policemen to fire back. Policemen controlled the situation, took away the car, arrested the gunmen and took away their arms," he said, adding that the third man ran away and avoided the police.
A Palestinian security official said police found rockets in the vehicle.
The Hamas gunmen accused the police of opening fire first and said there was no plan to launch rockets. Another terror group, Islamic Jihad, said it carried out a rocket attack on Israel from nearby shortly before the Hamas men were arrested.
Hamas, which is sworn to destroying Israel, said it was committed to "maintaining calm" and accused the Palestinian Authority of trying to curry favor with Washington at the expense of local unity.
Israel rejects Abbas' approach that it is better to use persuasion than force to get the militants to stop attacks. Sharon has refused to hold peace negotiations until the militant Palestinian factions have been dismantled.
Abbas has pledged to ensure quiet during Israel's planned withdrawal from settlements in the Gaza Strip this summer to end 38 years of occupation. The pullout has been hailed as a possible step toward reviving peace negotiations.
RSS
