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Abbas fires top security officials

An Israeli reaches for a homemade rocket fired by Palestinian militants after it landed outside a house Thursday at the Neve Dekalim Jewish settlement, part of the Gush Katif block of settlements, in the southern Gaza Strip. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson Knight Ridder
An Israeli reaches for a homemade rocket fired by Palestinian militants after it landed outside a house Thursday at the Neve Dekalim Jewish settlement, part of the Gush Katif block of settlements, in the southern Gaza Strip. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

JERUSALEM – Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas fired several top commanders of his Gaza security forces and pressured others into early retirement Thursday after they failed to prevent dozens of Palestinian mortar rounds and rockets from hitting Jewish settlements there earlier in the day.

The Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The dismissals, which numbered “in the teens,” according to Palestinian Cabinet Secretary Hassan Abu Libdeh, were aimed at preserving an informal truce that Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reached at their meeting Tuesday.

They also showed that Abbas means to extend his authority over the sprawling Palestinian security services.

Ever since Abbas emerged as the Palestine Liberation Organization’s choice to succeed Yasser Arafat, he’s struggled to assert his authority as the legitimate Palestinian leader. Voters gave him a strong mandate, but he lacks the charisma and military background needed to sway the Palestinian security apparatus to his side. Whether the firings will help achieve that remains to be seen, but they made it clear that he’s determined to try.

“These attacks are a concern to everybody. We want to maintain the cease-fire,” Abu Libdeh said.

Israel refrained from its usual military response to the mortar barrage to give the Palestinian leadership a chance to halt the attacks on its own.

“We have every reason to believe that Abu Mazen will follow through on his commitments and prevent the kind of attacks we’ve seen in the last 24 hours,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said, using Abbas’ nickname. “We hope now that he has taken over (as president), the security services will do what they are supposed to do and prevent terrorist attacks.”

Hamas said it was avenging two Palestinian deaths Wednesday. One was a militant who blew himself up as he handled a bomb. The other was a man shot by Israeli troops near a Jewish settlement in southern Gaza. The mortar rounds and rockets caused no injuries.

Abbas is expected to meet with Hamas leaders in Gaza today to pressure them into honoring an agreement he negotiated with them last month to refrain from attacking Israelis.

Abbas also is planning to send a top Palestine Liberation Organization official to Lebanon next week to meet with leaders of the militant group Hezbollah, which is widely believed to be encouraging the Hamas attacks.