MIDDLE EAST:Egypt has in recent days transferred thousands of guns and a large quantity of ammunition, with Israeli approval, to security forces in the Gaza Strip loyal to Mahmoud Abbas, officials in the Israeli security establishment have confirmed. The move is part of an effort to bolster the Palestinian president in his showdown with the Islamic group Hamas.
The shipment included 2,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles, 20,000 magazines and two million bullets. The Haaretz newspaper, which published the story yesterday, said the arms shipment had been moved from Egypt through Israel and into Gaza with Israeli approval and in co-ordination with the Israeli military.
A spokesman for Mr Abbas denied the reports. "The talk about the president's security services receiving arms is unfounded and not true at all," said Nabil Abu Rudeineh.
However Mr Rudeineh's denial was widely perceived as an attempt to head off possible criticism by the Palestinian public over what could be perceived as outside intervention in an internal Palestinian affair.
Hamas officials were quick to portray the report in that light: "Any support to one party against another is an American and Israeli intervention that must be rejected," said Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas, which trounced Mr Abbas's more moderate Fatah party in parliamentary elections last January.
Israeli cabinet minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer appeared to confirm the arms transfer when he told Army Radio that the weapons "are supposed to give Abu Mazen [ Mr Abbas] the ability to cope with organisations like Hamas, which are trying to destroy everything that is good."
Amos Gilad, a senior official in the Israeli defence establishment, added that the transfer of weapons "is aimed at reinforcing the forces of peace in the face of the forces of darkness that are threatening the future of the Middle East".
Over the last 12 months, Fatah and Hamas have been involved in an ongoing power struggle, which has turned violent on several occasions. The worst violence erupted after talks over a Hamas-Fatah government of national unity broke down and Mr Abbas announced earlier this month that he planned to call early elections.
Seventeen Palestinians have been killed in December in factional fighting.
Senior members of Fatah-affiliated groups in the coastal strip have complained of inferior firepower when engaging Hamas. One explanation for Hamas's superior firepower is the Islamic group's control of the smuggling of arms via tunnels that run from Egypt into southern Gaza.
A decision on the arms transfer was made at a meeting on Saturday between Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Mr Abbas, their first meeting since the Israeli leader took office nine months ago.
Mr Olmert also agreed to transfer $100 million in frozen tax revenues that Israel owes the Palestinian Authority to Mr Abbas, and to ease stifling travel restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank by removing some roadblocks.