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Palestinian factions consider to end truce with Israel

GAZA, Jun 13, 2005 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Palestinian factions are weighing to end a de facto truce with Israel following last week's renewed violence, local reports said Monday.

The latest move was made at a meeting of 13 Palestinian factions at the headquarters of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) in the Gaza City on Sunday evening, which reevaluated the fragile truce shaken by the latest exchange of violence in the territories, said the report.

"Israel has completely blown up the status of calmness through its ongoing operations and aggression on the Palestinian people, therefore there is nothing called unilateral calmness," Mohamed al- Hindi, a Jihad leader who attended Sunday's meeting was quoted as saying.

"We would never accept to be an audience watching our people slaughtered everyday. There is a Palestinian consensus on the dangerous impact of the Israeli attacks on calmness and we must have a stance," vowed al-Hindi.

He indicated that the decision to end the truce will come up in a few days.

The meeting was called by Islamic Jihad a few days after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met the militants in Gaza and persuaded them to respect the current truce.

Islamic Jihad and Hamas, the two main militant factions bent on Israel's destruction, agreed to observe the ceasefire at a meeting with Abbas in mid-March, after it was reached with Israel at the Feb. 8 Sharm el-Sheikh summit.