Israel Dismisses Intifada Truce

Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement yesterday formally declared a ceasefire in the intifada against Israeli occupation that has lasted nearly three years and claimed more than 3,000 lives.

Hours later, the Israeli army began to pull its forces out of most of the Gaza Strip under American pressure to alleviate the plight of Palestinian civilians and bolster support for the US-led road map to peace.

But within minutes of the ceasefire declaration, Israel dismissed the truce as a "trick". The foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, told the US national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, that it was a "ticking bomb" designed to "maintain the infrastructure of terror".

A Palestinian cabinet minister, Yasser Abed Rabbo, welcomed the ceasefire and called on the Israeli government to reciprocate by "declaring an end to all violence against Palestinians as is required in the road map".

Ms Rice, who is in Israel and the West Bank to force along the peace process after it stalled following a botched Israeli attempt to assassinate a Hamas leader, reiterated George Bush's demand that the Palestinian Authority use the ceasefire to disarm and dismantle "terrorist groups", as required by the road map.

The Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, has rejected any such confrontation with Hamas. But a senior Israeli foreign ministry official, Gideon Meir, said that if the Palestinians failed to do so, the peace process would fail.

"In my view, this would be the end of the road map," he said. "If Hamas stays in place, it would mean it has a veto over the peace process. The road map is a trap for Israel."

Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which between them were responsible for most suicide bombings since the start of the intifada in September 2000, issued a joint statement declaring "the suspension of military operations against the Zionist enemy for three months".

Although the truce was declared to be immediate, it was also conditional on a "total cessation of all forms of Zionist aggression", including Israeli military assassinations, closures around Palestinian cities and the siege on Mr Arafat's compound.

"We consider ourselves free from this initiative if the Israeli enemy does not implement all the conditions," said the head of Hamas's political wing, Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, the target of a failed Israeli assassination attempt.

Disagreements within Fatah initially delayed its signing up to the deal, but it later issued a statement declaring "commitment to the truce", including by its military wing, the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.

The ceasefire declaration opened the way for Israel to begin the withdrawal of its forces from much of the Gaza Strip. The Israelis will lift roadblocks and checkpoints but retain control of buffer zones around Jewish settlements.

Under the agreement, the Israeli military will end attacks on Palestinian-held areas of Gaza. But Palestinian security forces are expected to respond to Israeli intelligence identifying "ticking bombs" and to detain them.

Ms Rice met the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers at the weekend. She confronted Mr Sharon and members of his cabinet about the 200-mile "security" wall being built along the length of the West Bank. She said the US viewed the wall, which runs deep into occupied territory in places and cuts off Palestinians from their land, as "an attempt to demarcate a political border" and pre-empt a negotiated settlement on frontiers.

Ms Rice received an assurance from Mr Sharon that the Palestinians will be permitted to rebuild Gaza airport after Israel dug up its runway at the beginning of the intifada.

Ms Rice also spent four hours in Jericho talking to Mr Abbas, who asked the US to put more pressure on Israel to meet its commitment under the road map to dismantle Jewish outposts in the West Bank.

Mr Sharon has made a show of sending in the army to destroy a dozen or so uninhabited outposts, and to confront settlers at an inhabited settlement the day before a visit to Israeli by Colin Powell. But outposts have been going up faster than the army takes them down, with no apparent government effort to stop it.

Ms Rice invited Mr Abbas to visit the White House in a move seen as confirming Washington's stamp of approval while further isolating Mr Arafat.