TEL AVIV — Israel's military remains braced for an outbreak of major
violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Military sources said that despite a pledge by Palestinian insurgency
groups
to maintain calm, their operatives continue to produce and smuggle weapons
and
train for attacks against Israel. The sources said they don't expect the
calm to remain for more than a few weeks.
"Do not get intoxicated by the current calm in the region," Chief of
Staff Lt. Gen. Moshe Ya'alon said. "As long as [Palestinian Authority
Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas fails to collect the arms from the terror groups,
the conflict will not end."
In an address in Haifa on March 18, Ya'alon said insurgency groups have
prepared for the next round of fighting. He said they have been recruiting
operatives and accumulating weapons.
"The groups are utilizing the calm to further arm themselves as well as
produce explosives and build up their depleted ranks," Ya'alon said. "We
must deal with that which lies ahead and could erupt soon if the
[insurgency] infrastructure is not dealt with."
Ya'alon's assessment has been shared by most of the General Staff as
well as Southern Command, responsible for the Gaza Strip. Military sources
said the army was bracing for a Palestinian offensive as Israel prepared for
the withdrawal of the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank and the expulsion of
the 10,000 Israeli residents of these areas.
Hours after Ya'alon's warning, a Fatah-aligned coalition of insurgents
said it would resume attacks on Israel. The Popular Resistance Committees,
which destroyed three Israeli main battle tanks in the Gaza Strip, said it
was not bound by an agreement by Hamas and Islamic Jihad to maintain calm.
"Our patience is over and it is time the Zionist entity be called to
account by our fighters after the past two months [of calm]," Popular
Resistance Committees spokesman Mohammed Abdul Al told a news conference. in
Gaza City.
On March 17, Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Dan Harel signed an order
that banned Israelis from moving into the Gaza Strip. The order was said to
have taken effect immediately.
"The decree was signed in accordance to the decision made by the
political echelon and as part of the preparations to implement the
government decision to carry out the disengagement plan," a military
statement said.
Earlier, military sources said Southern Command plans to remove
non-essential equipment from the Gaza Strip during the first week of April.
The
sources said the removal of logistics equipment would comprise the first
stage of the withdrawal from the area.
