Israeli army claimed it will halt military operations against Palestinians through Wednesday’s Palestinian parliamentary elections, military sources said on Monday.
Meanwhile, Sunday evening, that one resident was killed; at least seven were injured in the Gaza Strip, after an Israeli helicopter fired one missile at a vehicle driving near the Karni Crossing, east of Gaza city.
The air-strike targeted a vehicle which was carrying members of Salah Ed Deen Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees.
The source confirmed Israeli media reports stating that the army will not stage up military operations and will not invade the Palestinian cities except in cases of intelligence information of any possible attack.
"The Israeli army will reduce its activity (in the West Bank) except for urgent cases," the source said.
Israeli army arrested 24 residents overnight, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists.
Palestinian elections slated for January 25, are the second parliamentary elections to be held since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.
Many candidates from the West Bank were not able to campaign in the Gaza Strip and in Jerusalem as they were denied access, despite Israeli claims that it will allow Palestinian groups to campaign in Jerusalem except for Hamas.
For the first time, almost all the Palestinian factions will contest the elections after most of them boycotted the 1996 first legislative elections.
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), the main rival to the Fatah ruling party joins the elections for the first time after its strong showing in the local governments’ elections held through the past year.
Israel threatened to obstruct the elections if Hamas takes part, however after international pressure it withdrew the warning.
On the other hand, the US government said it will not recognize any Palestinian government that Hamas is part of.
Most of the polls in the occupied Palestinians terretories show that, despite that Hamas will win a big number of the parliament’s 132 seats; it will stop short of winig a majority. On the other hand, Fatah alone will not be able to form a majority which leaves a major role for the small parties to affect the formation of the government.
