Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fired three of his top security chiefs today after militants mortar bombed Jewish settlements in Gaza.
After the attacks, Israel put off security talks scheduled as a follow-up to Tuesday's groundbreaking ceasefire agreed with the Palestinian Authority.
The attacks followed the killing a Palestinian by gunfire from a settlement in the Gaza Strip An Israeli official said troops would not retaliate after some 50 mortar bombs and rockets hit settlements in Gaza.
There were no casualties in the attacks by militants who have refused to guarantee participation in the ceasefire, and plans for Mr Abbas to meet Israeli Prime Minster Sharon next week are still scheduled to go ahead.
Palestinian officials said Mr Abdel-Razek al-Majaydeh, public security chief for the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinian Authority police chief Saeb al-Ajez and Mr Omar Ashour, commander of the security forces in the southern Gaza Strip, were all dismissed.
"Nobody can shirk their duties, and measures will be taken to boost the capability of the security services in accordance with decisions taken at the political level," Palestinian Security Council member Mr Jibril Rajoub said.
In another reminder of armed chaos in the Palestinian streets challenging Mr Abbas, dozens of gunmen including Hamas militants stormed a Gaza City prison and shot dead three inmates in a settling of scores between feuding clans.
Hamas, which along with other militant groups had maintained a tacit truce for weeks to give Mr Abbas room to negotiate with Israel, insisted the attacks were a response to Israeli "aggression" and not a breach of the tentative truce.