According to Haaretz, Yasser Arafat has escalated his rhetoric against Mahmud Abbas, saying, "Abu Mazen is betraying the interests of the Palestinian people.". He has given mayors the right to command security forces, and has now offered Jibril Rajoub a position as head of all mayors in the West Bank. This would by-pass Abbas's security chief, Muhammad Dahlan, whose appointment was the main sticking point in the political crisis surrounding Mahmud Abbas's appointment.

Other interesting notes: According to interviews with Palestinian prisononers, Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian leader currently in prison, took a hand in persuading the al-Aqsa Martyrs Bridage to sign the cease-fire. The Bush administration has authorized direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, thus helping strengthen it against the militant groups. And Jonathan Edelstein finds information that "A brawl took place several days ago between residents of the Khan Yunis refugee camp, in southern Gaza, and a terror cell that refused to comply with the residents’ demand to halt terror attacks."