MIDDLE EAST:Palestinian armed factions renewed their commitment to a Gaza Strip truce yesterday but said rocket salvoes from the territory could resume if Israel did not halt military operations in the occupied West Bank.
The message was delivered to Israel by an Egyptian mediator who has been trying to prevent major confrontation after Hamas's armed wing fired rockets and declared the Gaza truce dead on Tuesday, said Palestinian sources.
Egyptian Maj-Gen Burhan Hammad "informed the Israelis of the new commitment by the factions and at the same time stressed that factions demanded that the calm be reciprocal and simultaneous, covering Gaza and the West Bank", one of the sources said.
Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and moderate Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas agreed to the truce in November. Rocket fire from other groups such as Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees has continued sporadically.
Mr Abbas, whose Fatah faction formed a ruling coalition with Hamas last month, called Tuesday's rockets "an exceptional event that will not last" and urged restraint by Israel. - (Reuters)