Hamas Calls a Halt to Suicide Attacks

Hamas, the largest Palestinian group of Islamic radicals, announced Friday that it is suspending its campaign of suicide bombings and mortar attacks against Israelis, even as the deadliest internal Palestinian fighting in years raged in the Gaza Strip.

Six Palestinians were killed by other Palestinians--45 were wounded--in hours of fierce skirmishes Friday that erupted after forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat tried to arrest militants from Hamas and other Islamic groups as part of an anti-terror crackdown demanded by the United States and Israel.

Amid renewed fears of a Palestinian civil war, Hamas’ political leadership decided Friday “for the sake of Palestinian unity” to suspend suicide attacks within Israel and mortar fire that has targeted mostly Jewish settlements in Gaza.

The decision to heed, at least partially, Arafat’s call earlier in the week for a cease-fire came only after intense negotiations involving Arafat’s Fatah movement and Hamas representatives. Hamas spokesmen said they reserved the right to “resist occupation,” and there were conflicting reports about whether members of the more radical group Islamic Jihad would follow suit and suspend attacks.

Israeli officials weren’t impressed, saying a complete halt to all of Hamas’ activities, in all parts of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, is required. They said the announcement was a “tactical” move aimed at forestalling the Palestinian Authority’s crackdown.

Still, it was the first time in 15 months of bloodshed that Hamas has formally renounced suicide bombings in Israel, by far the most devastating and terrifying method of killing employed by any Palestinian group. This month alone, more than two dozen Israelis have been killed in suicide bombings for which Hamas has claimed responsibility.

Hamas’ statement appeared designed in part to relieve pressure on Arafat, who has been under virtual house arrest since the Israeli government declared him “irrelevant” last week and surrounded his compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah with tanks.

The statement also clearly aimed to avert wider fratricidal bloodshed among Palestinians. Under international pressure, Arafat has been forced to move against Hamas, however reluctantly. He has arrested dozens of militants and in recent days closed numerous Hamas and Islamic Jihad offices and charities.

When his forces moved to arrest a Hamas leader in Gaza City, however, chaos broke out. Supporters of the leader, Abdulaziz Rantisi, have surrounded his home since Thursday and have fought off Palestinian police. Rantisi remained in his home Friday evening and said in an interview that he will never surrender. Hamas sources said a deal was in the works to allow him to stay out of jail as long as he keeps a low profile.

The new violence--the most lethal Palestinian infighting in seven years--underscored the risks Arafat faces as he tries to salvage his crumbling regime.

Friday’s fighting followed the noontime funeral of an Islamic Jihad supporter who had been killed the day before. Thousands of Islamic militants, some masked and firing guns in the air, marched in the funeral in Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp, and the procession converged with a march by Hamas militants.

Shouting that Arafat is a “traitor” and that the “resistance must live on,” the angry crowd stormed past the Jabaliya police station, which has repeatedly been shelled in Israeli attacks. Police had taken up positions around the station, waiting for the crowd. Within minutes, a barrage of gunfire sent hundreds of people--demonstrators and bystanders--running for cover.

Witnesses said police used armored personnel carriers and machine guns to attack the demonstrators, some of whom lobbed grenades in response. Gun battles raged through most of the afternoon.

One of the six people killed Friday was 14, and the others were in their late teens, hospital officials said. They belonged to various factions, including Fatah and Islamic Jihad. No police were among the dead.

Urgent negotiations were underway late Friday in an effort to prevent further escalation.

Sheik Nafez Azzam, an official with Islamic Jihad from the Gazan area of Rafah, was among the Palestinian leaders who expressed alarm at the violence.

“Today was a sorrowful incident that makes our hearts bleed,” he said in a telephone interview. “The blood of Islamic Jihad is our blood, the blood of Hamas is our blood, the blood of the police is our blood. We must do everything to prevent this from happening again.”

Consequently, he said, Islamic Jihad was considering joining Hamas’ hiatus on suicide operations. “Calming down the situation is needed at this time,” he said. “We must care about Palestinian unity.”

Other Islamic Jihad commanders, however, said they would continue the suicide bombings.

Hamas’ prohibition does not preclude attacks on the estimated 200,000 Jewish settlers who live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Ten were killed at the gate of the Emmanuel settlement Dec. 12 in a bloody ambush claimed by Hamas. Presumably, such operations are still authorized.

A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dismissed Hamas’ announcement and said only a complete cease-fire, in all of Israel and the occupied territories, is worth considering.

“You can’t be half a terrorist,” Raanan Gissin said. “There must be a full cessation of violence.”

But Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, the lone dove in Sharon’s government, said: “We shall judge them by their acts. I must say that tonight the Palestinian Authority started really to act more seriously. I hope they will continue and really bring . . . a cease-fire.”

In Los Angeles, Israel’s chief Ashkenazi rabbi, Yisrael Meir Lau, said he was prepared to meet with religious leaders of any of the extremist groups--Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah or Hamas.

At the same time, the rabbi said at a news conference at the Museum of Tolerance that Islamic representatives are often reluctant to make any contacts with Jewish religious leaders public.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which say their attacks are a response to Israel’s use of heavy force, reject any compromise with the Jewish state. The popularity of the Islamic radicals has soared in the current conflict, displacing Fatah in some areas.

The Hamas statement said the organization’s decision came “in response to the many wise people who want to avoid giving our occupiers a chance to split our unity.”

“We declare the suspension of martyrdom attacks inside the occupied land of 1948 and a suspension of mortar fire until further notice,” the statement continued. The geographical reference is to the Jewish state founded in 1948.

Arafat called for a truce in a rare televised speech Sunday. He referred to suicide bombings and other operations against Israel as “terrorist activity” for the first time. He vowed to send his security forces against the activists, despite the specter of civil war. Israeli officials, however, remain skeptical, saying he is merely trying to get back in the good graces of the U.S. and Europe, as well as save his own neck.

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Times staff writer Kenneth Reich in Los Angeles and special correspondent Fayed abu Shammalah in Gaza City contributed to this report.