(Ha'aretz) Amos Harel - The declaration of calm in the territories in January 2005 involved two senior partners: Hamas, which forced members to abstain from terror attacks, and the Palestinian Authority, which bought off the heads of Fatah gangs with salaries and perks that removed them from the terror cycle. But since the elections, senior PA security personnel have lost the incentive to act, and left the arena open to Islamic Jihad headquarters in Damascus. Fed by Iranian money, Jihad headquarters is transferring greater sums into the territories to operate as many cells as possible in order to carry out attacks against Israel. Local Fatah leaders, some of whom have lost routine financial support from the PA security forces, are returning to terror, given the financial incentive, and this is particularly true in Nablus, which had been dominated by Fatah military organizations over the past two years. In the month since the PA elections, the IDF has seized four explosive belts that Fatah and Jihad members were trying to smuggle into Israel. IDF troops moved into the Balata and Casbah neighborhoods of Nablus in the West Bank on Sunday. Some central wanted figures were arrested and three wanted Fatah men were killed Thursday.
2006-02-24 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive