Hamas, Fatah Declare New Cease-Fire

Warring Hamas and Fatah factions in the Gaza Strip declared a cease-fire early Tuesday in an effort to end factional fighting that has left more than 60 Palestinians dead in the past two months.

The cease-fire was agreed at a midnight meeting between Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas and a representative of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the rival Fatah. Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar of Hamas said it would go into effect at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

Zahar spoke after the meeting, flanked by Hamas and Fatah representatives and by Egyptian mediators. As he spoke, gunfire and explosions could still be heard in Gaza City.

Zahar said the agreement stipulated that all security forces must return to their bases, that suspects in killings are to be handed over, and that all hostages still being held — a number thought to be in the dozens — are to be released.

Several earlier truce agreements aimed at stopping the internal Palestinian bloodshed, raging fitfully since early December, have broken down.

Fatah spokesman Maher Mekdad said his group would observe the agreement.

"Despite all the bitterness and sadness that we are feeling, we will work to make it succeed," he said.

The agreement between the Palestinian factions came as a two-month truce between the Palestinians and Israel in Gaza was jeopardized by a Palestinian suicide bombing, the first since April, 2006. The bomber, a 21-year-old from Gaza, struck the Israeli resort city of Eilat, killing three people and himself.

The two radical groups that claimed to have sent the bomber said they were trying to end Palestinian infighting by taking aim at Israel instead.

Hamas, which controls the Palestinian parliament and Cabinet, praised the attack as legitimate resistance, and Israel hinted that a military response was being considered.

"This is a grave incident, it's an escalation and we shall treat it as such," Defense Minister Amir Peretz said.

Speaking to lawmakers from his Labor Party, Peretz said he wanted to be sure to differentiate between Palestinian extremists and moderate elements who seek peace with Israel. He said he would be convening with security chiefs later Monday to discuss a response.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades is linked to President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah Party. However, Fatah spokesman Ahmad Abdul Rahman condemned the violence, saying, "We are against any operation that targets civilians, Israelis or Palestinians."

The bomber struck a small bakery in a residential neighborhood. Shattered glass was visible on the sidewalk outside, alongside bread trays scattered by the blast.

Benny Mazgini, 45, said he was in an apartment across the street when the building shook from the force of the blast.

When he ran outside, Mazgini said, he saw body parts scattered on the sidewalk outside the bakery.

"It was awful — there was smoke, pieces of flesh all over the place," Mazgini said.

Police cordoned off the area, and Bruno Stein, Eilat's police commander, said the police believed there could be more bombers in the city.

"Our assumption is that it's not one bomber, and there might be more bombers in Eilat right now," Stein said. Israeli emergency services raised their alert level to the highest.

The Palestinian who carried out the suicide bombing entered Israel from Jordan after seven months of preparation, a spokesman for the Islamic Jihad militant group said later Monday.

The spokesman, speaking at a news conference, declined to give details on how the attacker, a 21-year-old from the Gaza Strip, infiltrated Israel from Jordan. Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994 and work closely on security issues.
Eilat is located on the Red Sea next to the Jordanian resort of Aqaba.

Hamas and Fatah gunmen battled each other across the Gaza Strip early Monday, attacking security compounds, knocking out an electrical transformer and kidnapping several local commanders in some of the most extensive fighting in recent weeks.

Four people were killed and large parts of Gaza City were plunged into darkness.

CBS News correspondent Robert Berger reports forces loyal to President Abbas were amassing weapons in the West Bank and Gaza up until the recently announced truce.

Palestinian security sources say several thousand assault rifles and other weapons have been set aside in storehouses. The weapons shipments were authorized and funded by the U.S. and Israel to the tune of $170 million dollars.

Hamas accuses the U.S. and Israel of collaborating with Abbas to overthrow the government.

Saudi King Abdullah called the factional fighting a "shame" that has undermined the Palestinian cause.

"I urge them to hold an emergency meeting in Mecca to discuss the contentious matters without any intervention from outside," Abdullah said.

Police initially suspected the blast was either an accident or criminal incident.

Berger reports it was the first suicide bombing in Eilat, a quiet beach resort town far from major cities and insulated from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It also was the first suicide bombing in Israel since last April, when a bomber struck a Tel Aviv restaurant, killing 12 people.

Suicide bombings in Israel are sharply down from their height four years ago, when hundreds of Israelis were killed in dozens of attacks. However, a renewal of such violence could derail current efforts by the U.S., Israel and moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to renew long-stalled peace talks.

Eilat is located on the Red Sea near the Jordanian and Egyptian border, and al Qaeda operatives have been active in both neighboring countries. However, there was no indication the group was involved in Monday's attack.

The Israel-Egypt border, which runs near Eilat, is regularly crossed by smugglers entering Israel, according to police. Though the smugglers for the most part bring drugs and prostitutes into Israel, local officials in Eilat raised the possibility that the bomber had used the smuggling route to cross from Egypt.

In August 2005, a group thought to be linked to al Qaeda fired a rocket from Jordan at Eilat, causing no casualties. Al Qaeda also has carried out deadly attacks on hotels in Jordan and in Taba, just across the Egyptian border from Eilat.

Some Palestinian tourism agencies run tours to Eilat, providing another possible route for attackers to reach the city, a four-hour drive from the central cities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.