Abbas urges Palestinian militants to follow truce
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-12-28 08:38

ELECTIONS COMING

Continued rocket firing could be a blow to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as he campaigns to win re-election for a third term on the back of the largely popular Gaza withdrawal.

A few rockets were launched on Tuesday and one person in a northern Israeli town was slightly hurt, the army said.

On Tuesday, Israel dropped leaflets over northern Gaza telling residents "if you continue to stay in the area from which rockets are fired, you are putting your life in danger."

Palestinians have condemned the threatened buffer zone as tantamount to re-occupying parts of Gaza.

A Palestinian boy walks near destroyed houses near the Rafah border between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip December 26, 2005. [Reuters]

Sharon has said that he wants to pursue peacemaking with the Palestinians, but will only discuss statehood once the militant factions are disarmed -- something the Palestinians are meant to begin under a U.S.-backed peace "road map."

Israel has flouted its own road map promise to freeze the expansion of Jewish settlements and Sharon has vowed to keep major blocs forever. The Palestinians fear that could deny them the state they seek in all the West Bank and Gaza.

Abbas's dominant Fatah movement faces a strong challenge in the election from Islamic militant group Hamas, which is seen by many Palestinians as less tainted by corruption.

But Abbas is expected to take a step to end a damaging split within Fatah on Wednesday by presenting a single list of candidates for the election, bringing together the rival wings of veteran leaders and a young guard seeking a share of power.