Abbas seeks to secure ceasefire

With Israel threatening its own large-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip unless attacks are halted, the head of national security also confirmed that Palestinian security forces would be deployed along the border in the next few days.

After holding talks with the Hamas leadership after he arrived in Gaza late Tuesday, Abbas was scheduled to meet with the representatives of other factions including Islamic Jihad on Wednesday.

Plans for roundtable talks with all the factions were however cancelled.

Hamas said Tuesday's two-hour meeting, which featured the movement's two top leaders in its Gaza stronghold, Mahmud Zahar and Ismail Haniya, took place in a "positive" atmosphere.

"We listened to Abu Mazen (Abbas) about the issue of the ceasefire and the movement informed him that we will study this subject," Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri told AFP.

"The meeting was a positive one. We exchanged opinions and everyone was concerned that we reach an understanding to ensure the strength of our national unity."

A source who attended the meeting said that while a formal ceasefire may not be announced, he was hopeful that a "cooling down period" was on the cards.

Ziad Abu Amr, an independent Gaza MP and former minister who was instrumental in persuading the factions to agree a ceasefire in the summer of 2003, voiced confidence that an agreement could be reached.

"The meeting was a positive and serious one and we can be optimistic," Abu Amr told AFP.

Palestinian security forces will be deployed along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel this week after newly elected leader Mahmud Abbas gave orders to prevent militant attacks, a top security official said Wednesday.

"We have agreed to redeploy the joint Palestinian security forces inside the cities to ensure security," General Abdelrazeq al-Majaydeh told reporters after a meeting with Abbas in Gaza City.

"We also agreed that preparations will continue for national security forces to be redeployed along the border in the next two days to prevent the violations," Majaydeh, head of national security for the West Bank and Gaza, added.

The move comes after a suicide attack by the Islamic miltiant movement Hamas in the southern Gaza Strip in which an Israeli security agent was killed.

Other security sources said that joint units, which will be under the control of the national security council, would also be deployed inside the main Palestinian cities from Wednesday in a bid to limit the carrying of weapons on the streets.

Abbas has pledged to end what he calls the "armed chaos" on Palestinian streets where militants are often seen openly carrying firearms.