The Prime Minister's Office Jerusalem

   According to the Prime Minister's Office, Abbas phoned Olmert and told him that he had received an agreement from all the different Palestinian factions to the cease fire, and in response "requested that Israel would stop all military operations in the Gaza Strip, and withdraw all its forces from there." Olmert told Abbas that Israel would respond favorably "since Israel was operating in the Gaza Strip in response to the violence." According to the statement, the two "agreed to continue the dialogue to bring about an end of violence in the West Bank, and agreed to talk again soon to continue with these steps." (01,26)