MIDDLE EAST: Mr Mahmoud Abbas is expected to do some tough talking today when he meets Hamas leaders in Gaza, just a day after the Islamic movement claimed responsibility for bombarding Jewish settlements in the Strip with dozens of mortars in defiance of the Palestinian leader's declaration of a truce with Israel.
The chief Palestinian negotiator, Mr Saeb Erekat, said the Palestinian leader would make it clear to militant leaders "that they must honour the ceasefire and that there is only one authority and one leadership, as Abbas said at Sharm el-Sheikh [ summit] and during his presidential campaign."
Mr Abbas has called repeatedly for "one law, one gun" to end the chaos and lawlessness that has spread across the West Bank and Gaza since the intifada erupted and the Palestinian Authority crumbled. He fired several top security commanders after the mortar salvo on Thursday, in what was seen as a message that he expected his security forces to carry out his orders to prevent attacks on Israel.
The move was also linked to an attack on a jail in Gaza by militants who killed three Palestinian inmates on Thursday as part of a settling of scores in a clan feud.
Some of Mr Abbas's senior security staff have suggested he use force against Hamas in Gaza, where the Islamic group enjoys its greatest popularity. So far Mr Abbas, fearing civil strife if he resorts to force, has insisted that dialogue is the best way to persuade armed groups to sign up to a ceasefire.
Israeli leaders said they would not launch a military response to the mortar attack, but warned that their patience was limited. Gaza was quiet yesterday and Hamas insisted the attack was not an attempt to defy Mr Abbas, but was a retaliatory strike for the death of a Palestinian who was shot by Israeli troops on Wednesday near a settlement.
Immediately after the Sharm summit, where Mr Abbas and the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, jointly declared an end to hostilities, Hamas said it was not bound by a truce.
In Israel, meanwhile, acts of violence by settlers and right-wing extremists opposed to Mr Sharon's plan to pull out of Gaza have escalated in recent days. They reached a peak Thursday night when the Finance Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, had to be whisked away from a wedding reception by his security detail after a group of extremists shouted abuse at him and slashed one a tyre on his car.
Following the attack on Mr Netanyahu, the Attorney General, Mr Menachem Mazuz, ordered police to crack down on extremists trying to harass elected officials.
Security officials have voiced concerns that as a Gaza withdrawal, scheduled for the summer, draws closer, right-wing extremists will become increasingly desperate and could turn to violence. Fears have also been expressed of an attempt on Mr Sharon's life.
Settler leaders argue that tensions could be alleviated if the prime minister agreed to a referendum on his Gaza plan, but Mr Sharon has rejected the idea as a transparent ploy meant to delay and even prevent a withdrawal.