RAMALLAH – Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has ordered security forces to draft a plan to end Hamas missile strikes against Israel.

Officials said Abbas's directive did not stipulate an immediate offensive against insurgency groups. Instead, Abbas ordered PA security commanders to draft options in an effort to halt missile and mortar strikes against Israeli civilian and military targets.

"There are intensified instructions to the Palestinian security forces to assume their responsibilities," PA Communications Minister Azzam Ahmed said. "We have a decision to stop the cycle of violence."

Officials said Abbas would meet Fatah, Hamas and other insurgency leaders in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. They said Abbas planned to warn them that he could no longer tolerate missile and bombing strikes against Israel.

But Abbas does not plan an imminent offensive against Palestinian insurgents, officials said. They said the PA chairman has sought one month of grace to persuade Palestinian insurgency groups to end their attacks against Israeli civilian and military targets in Israel as well as in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Abbas's efforts have included the promise of employment in the PA for insurgents as well as guarantees of immunity. The PA chairman has also sought an Israeli commitment to end military operations in Palestinian areas and a withdrawal from cities in the West Bank.

"The attacks by the Palestinian side must come to an end, but Israeli military operations must also end," Azzam said after a Cabinet meeting.

Officials said a key element of Abbas's strategy was to disband the Fatah-dominated Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. They said Abbas has offered Al Aqsa gunmen jobs in the PA security forces and protection from Israel's military.

Al Aqsa, estimated to have about 500 active operatives, has played a major role in the four-year Palestinian insurgency.

Abbas has been under heavy pressure from Israel and the United States to stop Hamas missile and other strikes against Israel. Israel has warned of a major military offensive in the Gaza Strip unless the violence subsides over the next few days.

The PA Cabinet has agreed to investigate an insurgency bombing of the Karni terminal in the eastern Gaza Strip in which six Israelis were killed.

The terminal has been closed since the attack on Jan. 13 and the Cabinet ordered the Preventive Security Apparatus to investigate Israeli allegations that PA security officers assisted in the Fatah-Hamas operation.