Fatah militants in the West Bank announce ceasefire

The New York Times reports:

Scores of West Bank Palestinian militants taken off Israel’s wanted list as a gesture to President Mahmoud Abbas are handing in weapons and signing pledges to cease violence against Israel, saying they want to give Mr. Abbas a chance to consolidate his rule here. . .

“Everything must come to an end,” said Mahdi Maraka, an Aksa Brigades leader from Al Ein refugee camp here in Nablus, a traditional hotbed of Fatah militancy in the northern West Bank. “There are two tracks, the political and the military. Now is the time for the political stage.”

Nasr Kharaz, 31, an armed militant and spokesman for the Brigades in the West Bank, said, “The military wing of Fatah has stopped armed resistance at this stage.”

Let's hope this really does signal the beginning of a new era. As one Aksa fighter, Khalil Abayat, 45, summed up the general sentiment (including that of this armchair spectator to this conflict): “Enough. I’m exhausted. I just want to rest.”