The Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad warned Sunday they would end a truce with Israel if the Palestinian Authority went ahead with what they called a campaign to disarm them. The groups last month announced the halt on attacks in Israel as part of a U.S.-backed peace plan, which has also seen Israeli troops withdraw from some Palestinian areas and transfer security control to Palestinian Authority forces. “The Palestinian security forces decided to start a campaign aimed to disarm the resistance…We warn that such an act…will make us think seriously of going back on our initiative of halting the military attacks (against Israel),” the two militant groups said in a joint statement faxed to Reuters. An Islamic Jihad official told Reuters Palestinian security forces in Gaza were gearing up for what appeared to be an attempt to disarm them, and said the groups could resume suicide bombings in response. “Preparations have begun on the ground, the Palestinian authority has deployed over 600 police and security forces to protect the settlements. They are searching people and cars and are stepping up (security) measures,” Jihad official Abu Imad al-Rifai said. “We see it as a first step toward trying to gather the weapons of the resistance, and are unsettled about it,” he said, adding: “All possibilities are out there, including a return to martyrdom operations.” Full Story
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