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| By: Israel Insider staff and partners |
| Published: January 1, 2006 |
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The terrorist Islamic Jihad and several other terror groups with ties to the ruling Fatah movement said Saturday they won't necessarily observe a truce with Israel in 2006.
The limited cease-fire, negotiated in March, expires Saturday, and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian mediators are trying to win an extension. The Islamic terrorist Hamas has largely stuck to the agreement, as part of what has been portrayed as Hamas' gradual transformation into a political party.
The smaller Islamic Jihad never laid down its arms and carried out a series of suicide bombings and other attacks against Israel in recent months. Islamic Jihad claimed it was committed to the truce in 2005, and that the attacks were retaliation for perceived Israeli truce violations.
In a statement Saturday, Islamic Jihad said: "We reaffirm that the official end of the truce agreed to in Cairo last March comes at midnight on Saturday." It was not clear whether the group would participate in talks on extending the cease-fire.
At least two of several dozen armed groups affiliated with Fatah also noted that the cease-fire expires Saturday.
Ala Sanakra, a local leader of Fatah gunmen in the West Bank's Balata refugee camp, said a truce should not be extended unless Israeli troops withdraw from all of Judea and Samaria.
In Gaza, a statement of the Fatah-affiliated Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades said Israeli strikes in Gaza "blew up any truce" and called on all groups to try to carry out suicide attacks against Israel.
The AP contributed to this report.
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