Suicide blast clouds Abbas visit to Gaza

The Israeli Army confirmed the blast at the Gush Katif intersection adjacent to a bloc of Jewish settlements. The militant Hamas group claimed responsibility.

A little earlier, Abbas travelled to Gaza City, hoping to persuade militant groups to cease their attacks on Israelis. A senior Palestinian security official said security forces intended to disarm militant factions as part of a plan to prevent attacks on Israelis.

Keeping pressure on the new leader, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon paid a rare visit to troops in the northern Gaza Strip. His office said he discussed how to stop rocket and mortar fire at Jewish settlements.

‘‘Firing at civilian settlements is something that cannot continue and must be dealt with as soon as possible,’’ Sharon told the soldiers, in remarks broadcast on Israel Radio.

Israeli media reports said a mortar bomb landed near the Erez border crossing shortly before Sharon’s arrival. Palestinian militants also fired more rockets and mortars into Jewish settlements in Gaza, hours before Abbas began his three-day visit. A dozen or more rounds caused no casualties, settlers said. ‘‘Calls by some to stop resistance operations against the Zionist enemy are not binding on us,’’ Islamic Jihad militants said in a statement.

Abbas has come under swift and vAbbas ordered his security forces on Monday to prevent anti-Israeli violence, but there were no signs by Tuesday of new Palestinian deployments. —Reuters