[Jerusalem Post] Yaakov Katz - Over 80,000 illegal weapons are believed to be in the hands of West Bank terrorists, according to the IDF's latest assessments. Contrary to earlier predictions, defense officials said this week that Hamas was just as strong as Fatah in the West Bank and could pose a genuine threat to Mahmoud Abbas' security forces. Hamas has "weapons and explosives and, more importantly, they are highly motivated," a senior defense official said. A high-ranking IDF officer said Hamas tried uniting all of its factions across the West Bank but failed due to IDF preemptive action. Since then, Hamas has focused on infiltrating its men into the ranks of the PA security branches - the Palestinian Police and the National Security Force. Israeli defense officials are concerned that when Hamas launches its coup attempt, Fatah forces will collapse just like they did in Gaza, where Fatah had four times the number of men Hamas had. For this reason, senior Israeli defense officials have voiced opposition to a plan recently raised by the U.S. security coordinator to the region Lt.-Gen. Keith Dayton according to which Abbas needs an additional five battalions in the West Bank to counter the growing Hamas threat. "It is not about manpower, but about motivating the Fatah forces to want to fight and defend the PA," an Israeli official said. The IDF Central Command believes that Abbas' time is running out and that in the coming months Hamas will try to topple his government and attempt to take over the PA security branches.
2007-09-04 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive