Analysis / Israel is demanded to do its share for the hudna

The three largest Palestinian factions - Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad - officially announced on Sunday their acceptance of a temporaray cease-fire on attacks against Israelis. While Yasser Arafat's Fatah party joined the hudna, by declaring a six-month mortarium on military operations, the other two organizations announced a three-month truce.
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The hudna speaks of the "suspension of military actions against the occupation for three months, that will go into effect on the day of announcement" – but its problem can be found in the attached list of conditions to which Israel must adhere.

According to Palestinian reports, the conditions presented to Israel by the hudna signatories has changed several times. But after examining all of the reports, one finds the following clauses: "An end to assassinations, raids, house demolitions, closures, arrests and other aggressive operations carried out by Israel and the settlers against the Palestinians"; "lifting the closure on Arafat"; and "releasing all prisoners and detainees, especially those serving long sentences."
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Drafts of the hudna declaration released by Palestinian media said that "if the Israeli government doesn't adhere to these conditions, it will be responsible for the failure of the agreement." Against this backdrop, it can be
asked whether the agreement as a whole is at all serious, because it is clear to everyone
that Israel won't release prisoners or fulfill the other conditions presented by the hudna signatories.
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Israel dismisses intifada truce
Militant Palestinian groups accused of trickery, but soldiers and tanks begin to withdraw from Gaza

Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement yesterday formally declared a ceasefire in the intifada against Israeli occupation that has lasted nearly three years and claimed more than 3,000 lives.

Hours later, the Israeli army began to pull its forces out of most of the Gaza Strip under American pressure to alleviate the plight of Palestinian civilians and bolster support for the US-led road map to peace.

But within minutes of the ceasefire declaration, Israel dismissed the truce as a "trick". The foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, told the US national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, that it was a "ticking bomb" designed to "maintain the infrastructure of terror".

A Palestinian cabinet minister, Yasser Abed Rabbo, welcomed the ceasefire and called on the Israeli government to reciprocate by "declaring an end to all violence against Palestinians as is required in the road map".
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