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| By: Attila Somfalvi |
| Published: February 4, 2007 |
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As far as Israel is concerned, the clashes in the Palestinian Authority will continue and will escalate, Shin Bet deputy chief Y. said during Sunday's cabinet meeting.
"The reason we say this is because each side is attempting to arm itself and is preparing for the next wave of clashes," he added.
Addressing the ceasefire declared by the two organizations over the weekend, Y. said that "this is at least the tenth claming effort, but it doesn't seem as if it's going toward a truce."
"The tension in the field is high. From our perspective, the past 10 days saw the stormiest clashes in the Palestinian Authority in recent years."
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stressed that Israel was following the conflict, so far without interfering.
"We have nothing to do with it and we are not involved in the Palestinians' internal clashes. This is an internal matter which we are not happy about. We do not view this as a breakthrough which helps to create a desired process. We hope that this violence stops and we definitely hope that their violence towards us stops," he said.
Although Israel is not interfering, it has a clear opinion on the side it favors in the conflict.
"We are interested in seeing the stances presented by (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) design the Palestinian government, rather than Hamas' stances," Olmert said.
"If Hamas were to adopt the Quartet's decisions, recognize agreements, halt terror and return Gilad Shalit, then such a government -- even if Hamas is part of it -- could be a partner for a dialogue," he added.
Minister Gideon Ezra asked during the meeting whether Israel was doing enough to bolster the moderates and whether Israel could consider releasing Palestinian prisoners, including Marwan Barghouti, due to his popularity.
Y. replied, "There is a gap between the public image and the intelligence we have on Barghouti's stances and his role as a moderating element."
'University raid an unusual activity'
The deputy chief also addressed Thursday's raid of the Islamic University in Gaza, and particularly the reports that Iranian arms experts were seized during the raid.
"It was an unusual activity," he said. "We have no confirmation that there were Iranian elements there. This information should be taken with a grain of salt. We have no intelligence and media indication regarding a possibility of Iranian elements."
Following the report on the raid, Palestinian sources said that the most senior Iranian agent, a general, was in charge of Hamas' arms project and had even trained activists manufacturing explosives at the university labs.
Reprinted with permission from Ynet. |
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