Israel announced that the cease-fire agreement officially began on Wednesday, June 13, 2001, at 3:00pm. Since the official start of the cease-fire, however, nothing much has changed for Yesha residents. In Gaza, the mortar rockets continue to rain down on Jewish communities. Overnight, Arabs continued to attack IDF positions with gunfire and grenades.

According to Avigdor Shatz, chief of security in the Benjamin Regional Council of the Shomron, the cease-fire “is certainly being discussed by the politicians but has little basis in reality.” Major-General Giora Eiland of IDF Policy and Planning said that the events of the past 20 hours are “far from the required minimum to actualize the cease-fire.” Eiland added that “Israel would not grade the PA’s performance every two or four hours” but that there would be a meeting following the 48-hour implementation period. As mentioned earlier, Prime Minister Sharon has announced that – following today’s murder – the 48-hour period has been restarted.

Senior PA official Saeb Erekat told reporters today that although the PA would “attempt to comply” with the latest US initiative, Yasser Arafat never signed any cease-fire agreement. Arafat has already declared that his forces will not capture Hamas or Islamic Jihad terrorists.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 14th, 2001 and is filed under news.