The Palestinian Authority on Thursday called for all Palestinian people and "national forces" to be calm, following the announcement of a truce with Israel aimed at ending five weeks of deadly clashes, the information ministry said.
"The Palestinian leadership calls on the sons of the Palestinian people and all of the national forces to be calm and united in their position and to follow a single path and only to hold popular displays and to stick to peaceful ways in all circumstances," it said in a statement signed by information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo.
Israel and Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority agreed overnight to take steps to restore calm after the tide of violence in the Palestinian territories that has left more than 170 people dead, nearly all of them Arabs.
The two sides are due to issue identical statements formally announcing the truce at 2 p.m. (1200 GMT) – GAZA CITY (AFP)
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