Egypt has sent a large shipment of weapons through Israeli
territory to shore up forces loyal to the embattled Palestinian
president, Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli security officials said Thursday
an extraordinary show of support by both countries for his efforts
to renew peacemaking with Israel.
Israel approved the transfer of 2,000 automatic rifles, 20,000
ammunition clips and 2 million bullets on Wednesday, the officials
said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the shipment had
not been officially confirmed by Israel, the Palestinians or
Egypt.
Abbas, locked in a power struggle with anti-Israel Hamas
militants, has long sought to beef up the arsenal available to
security services under his control.
Israel initially balked at letting additional weapons through,
for fear they would be used against Israelis.
But a recent warming of contacts between Abbas and Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert and Israel's desire to see Abbas prevail
against anti-Israel Hamas militants, who control the Palestinian
parliament and cabinet, apparently have overridden those
concerns.
The Israeli Haaretz daily said Olmert and Abbas settled
the details of the shipment at their first summit, held in
Jerusalem on Saturday.
Saeb Erekat, a spokesman for Abbas, declined comment, as did
Olmert spokeswoman Miri Eisin and the Israeli Defence Ministry.
But Cabinet Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer appeared to confirm
the deal, telling Army Radio the weapons transfer was designed to
give Abbas "the capability to hold his own against those
organizations that are trying to spoil everything."
Hamas and Fatah have been tussling for power since the Islamic
militant group defeated Fatah in legislative elections last
January. Recurrent clashes between the two groups turned
exceptionally violent earlier this month after Abbas abandoned
efforts to form a coalition with Hamas and announced plans to call
early elections.
Seventeen people have died in this month's fighting, which
included an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh
of Hamas.
Haniyeh left Gaza to resume a trip to Gulf states Thursday that
had been cut short by the violence, which has since subsided. He
was headed first to Saudi Arabia, then to Kuwait, Qatar and Jordan,
where had and Abbas have been invited for talks by King Abdullah
II.
Some 5,000 Hamas militiamen, some on foot, others in jeeps,
lined the roads as Haniyeh travelled from his base in Gaza City to
the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Haniyeh's convoy came
under fire at Rafah on December 14 when he came back from his
suspended trip, and the heavy security was a clear indication that
concerns about his safety remained high.
Haniyeh and Abbas have both agreed to meet with Abdullah, but
nothing concrete has been scheduled.
(China Daily December 29, 2006)
