Abbas faces a crucial test of his new leadership. (Reuters)

By Yasser Al-Banna, IOL Correspondent

GAZA CITY, January 18 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) faced Tuesday, January 18, a crucial test of his new leadership after major resistance factions rejected his call for a ceasefire with the Israeli occupation army, vowing to fight on.

“The resistance is not the exclusive of anyone but remains as a strategic choice of all Palestinian factions and the Palestinians,” Hamas Spokesman Mushir Al-Masri told IslamOnline.net.

He said Abbas has given in to the “Zionist dictations and his call to a ceasefire is undermining the praiseworthy resistance.”

Masri said the mortar attacks on the Israeli settlements and the Negev village of Sderot have paid off.

Abbas, who is due to hold talks with leaders of the resistance factions Wednesday, January 20, has come under swift and varied pressure since his election last week.

Israel has refused to talk to Abbas him until he reins in the “militants” with Hawkish Prime Minister Ariel Sharon threatening military action if he does not do so within two to three weeks.

Abbas ordered his security forces on Monday, January 17, to prevent anti-Israeli attacks.

Sharon's spokesman called this “a small step in the right direction.”

Israel's Ma’ariv newspaper, in an unsourced report, said Abbas planned to deploy 1,000 policemen in Gaza areas near the Israeli border next week.

End of Occupation

“It is the problem of the occupation troops not the Palestinians. Israel is occupying our land and killing our people and families,” said Azzam.

Hamas’s stance was echoed by the Islamic Jihad, Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and other resistance factions, who all demanded first an end to the Israeli occupation and an immediate halt to the incursions.

But they said they were open to talks with Abbas during his three-day visit.

“It is the problem of the occupation troops not the Palestinians. Israel is occupying our land and killing our people and families, while the Palestinian are defending themselves,” Islamic Jihad senior leader Nafez Azzam told IOL.

Azzam would not comment on the potential deployment of Palestinian security forces to parts of the Gaza Strip to stop mortar attacks.

“The all-important thing is to stop the Israeli aggression and it is our legitimate right to counter the Israeli raids,” he said.

Azzam, however, hoped that the Palestinian security forces and resistance fighters would clash with each other, warning that Israel wanted to pit the Palestinian against each other.

An Al-Aqsa Brigades leader, who identified himself only as Abu Mujahid, said the resistance factions have great respect for the Palestinian leadership but cannot change its policies as long as the occupation persists.

He dismissed a potential internecine conflict, saying that all resistance factions are admired and respected by a broad section of the Palestinians.

Abu Mujahid further said it is too early to consider whether to join the Palestinian Authority’s security apparatuses.

“We are not looking for government positions. We only want to see our independence dream come true,” he said.

Action

Palestinian attacks came hard on the heels of Abbas’ ceasefire as a translation of the rejection into action.

A Palestinian bomber blew himself up near a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip late Tuesday, killing one Israeli soldier and injuring seven others, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack at a highway intersection close to the Gush Katif settlement bloc.

It named the bomber as Omar Salman Tabesh, 21, from nearby Khan Yunis.

The Israeli television said the Palestinian blew himself up in a building where he was taken to be searched by soldiers.

Earlier in the day, Palestinian resistance fighters fired rockets and mortars into the Israeli settlement of Kfar Darom.

Israeli defense sources told Reuters Tuesday the army planned to carve out “security zones” in Gaza a week or two before settlers are removed under Sharon's plan to “disengage” from the conflict -- but would grab them sooner if attacks did not end.

No sooner had the Palestinians elected their next president in a poll hailed by Washington as an opportunity to yank the peace process out of its slumber than Israel announced on January 11 plans to demolish 3,000 homes in war-battered Rafah.

Palestinian officials and experts told IOL on January 5 that only the Palestinian people should have the final say on whether to end the armed Intifada.

Pundits have also said that the second Palestinian Intifada has left its indelible marks on Palestinian society compared to the first one.

Following the killing of four Palestinian workers at the hands of Israeli settlers, the Palestinians launched their first seven-year Intifada (Stone Intifada) against the occupation forces in 1987.

In September 2000, Al-Aqsa Intifada erupted in the wake of the provocative visit of the then Israeli opposition leader Sharon to Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest site.