Israel, U.S. aid Fatah
Fresh Palestinian troops allowed to enter Gaza to counter Hamas
12:02 AM CDT on Friday, May 18, 2007
From Wire Reports
JERUSALEM – Israel this week allowed the Palestinian party Fatah to bring into the Gaza Strip as many as 500 fresh troops trained under a U.S.-coordinated program to counter Hamas, the Islamic movement that won Palestinian elections last year.
Fighting between Hamas and Fatah has left about 45 Palestinians dead since Sunday.
The forces belong to units loyal to elected Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate Fatah leader whom the Bush administration and Israel have sought to strengthen militarily and politically.
Maria Telleria, spokeswoman for the European Union Border Assistance Mission deployed at Rafah, said the troops' entry on Tuesday was approved by Israel.
The troops crossed into Gaza from Egypt aboard several buses, she said. "We had been informed they were arriving," Ms. Telleria said.
"But this was coordinated between Israel and the Palestinian government. All we did was monitor the crossing."
The troops' deployment illustrates the increasingly partisan role that Israel and the Bush administration are taking in the volatile Palestinian political situation. The effort to fortify the armed opposition to Hamas, which the United States and Israel categorize as a terrorist organization, follows attempts to isolate the Islamic movement internationally and cut off its sources of financial aid.
Training effort
The Bush administration recently approved $40 million to train the Palestinian Presidential Guard, a force of about 4,000 troops under Mr. Abbas' direct control.
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