Jihad agrees to cease rocket attacks on Israel: sources

Well-informed Palestinian sources said on Sunday that the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) has agreed to cease rocket attacks on Israel under an agreement with the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

The sources said Jihad and the PNA have struck a deal to end rocket attacks on Israeli targets, adding that the PNA has contacted the Quartet Committee and Egypt following Jihad's pledge, asking them to press Israel to stop air and ground military offensives.

The Quartet Committee groups key Mideast mediators of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.

Meanwhile, Khaled al-Batsh, a senior Jihad leader in Gaza, asserted that Jihad remained committed to a de facto truce deal that major Palestinian militant groups agreed to abide by in March.

"The Islamic Jihad does not intend to quit the Tahdia, or the calm agreement, but we stress that the Tahdia should be mutual," he said.

Batsh also said the Following Up Committee, grouping Palestinian groups including the ruling Fatah movement and Jihad, is scheduled to convene on Sunday night to work out how to deal with the current Israeli military escalation.

In the wake of a Jihad suicide attack that killed five Israelis on Wednesday, Israel has vowed broad and open-ended offensives in both Gaza and the West Bank.

Jihad said the attack was in revenge for the Israeli killing of a top Jihad militant.

About nine Palestinians have been killed so far in the Israeli military operations.

The new flare-up of violence has dealt a heavy blow to the eight-month-old ceasefire and cast a pall over the prospects of the peace process.

Source: Xinhua