It has been an open secret for months that Hamas operatives were smuggling money through the Rafah crossing, but government sources said this was the largest single amount anyone had tried to bring in.
Palestinian Fatah-loyalist security forces confront Hamas supporters as they try to prevent them from holding a rally in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Photo: AP , AP
The cabinet was told at its weekly meeting Sunday that despite the cutoff of international funds to the PA when Hamas came to power earlier in the year, the PA government has still been able to pay between 40 to 50% of the salaries.
Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-led government and who accompanied Haniyeh on his tour of Arab and Islamic countries, said in a phone interview from El-Arish in Egypt that the money would be transferred to the PA Finance Ministry through the Arab League. He said the money would go to paying salaries to civil servants, unemployed workers, fishermen in the Gaza Strip and owners of houses demolished by Israel.
"We have every right to bring money through the Rafah border crossing," Hamad said. "The Rafah terminal belongs to the Palestinians, not the Europeans and Israelis. There is no law that prevents the prime minister from passing through the terminal or carrying money."
He said Israel's attempt to prevent Haniyeh from bringing cash into the Gaza Strip was part of an "international conspiracy to starve the Palestinian people."
Ismail Radwan, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, confirmed that Haniyeh was carrying more than $30m. in cash. He said the money was donated by different Arab and Islamic countries and organizations and was intended to help the Palestinian economy.
Surrounded by bodyguards, PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh arrives to attend Friday prayers at a mosque in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza.
Photo: AP , AP
Hamas officials revealed last week that the movement has succeeded in smuggling more than $66m. in cash through the Rafah terminal in the past eight months. Zahar returned two weeks ago to Gaza carrying more than $25m. in cash.
The incident at Rafah comes amid an upsurge in violence between Hamas and Fatah supporters in the West Bank and Gaza Strip following the breakdown of talks over the formation of a unity government.
Three Hamas activists were shot and seriously wounded Thursday when Fatah gunmen opened fire at a Hamas rally in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus. In the evening, a fierce gun battle erupted in the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip between members of the Fatah-controlled General Intelligence Force and scores of Hamas militiamen.
In more scenes of anarchy in the Gaza Strip, gunmen belonging to the Popular Resistance Committees, an alliance of several Palestinian armed groups, kidnapped Muhammad Abu Siam, a senior officer with the General Intelligence Force.
The abduction came in response to the detention earlier in the day of Hisham Mukhaimar, a member of the Popular Resistance Committees, on suspicion of involvement in the murder of the three children of a top PA officer earlier this week. Four people were wounded by gunfire during the detention of Mukhaimar, one of them a General Intelligence officer.
In Ramallah, unidentified gunmen fired at the car of Prisoners Affairs Minister Wasfi Kabaha. There were no casualties.
The growing tensions between Hamas and Fatah come as Abbas prepares to deliver a speech to the Palestinian public on Saturday about the failure of the unity government talks.
Although PA officials said they expected Abbas to dissolve the Hamas-led government and call early elections, sources close to the PA chairman noted that he still believed a deal could be reached with Hamas.
A senior PA official in Ramallah criticized the timing of Israel's decision on Haniyeh, saying it was likely to spoil Abbas's efforts to get rid of the Hamas-led government.
"This is a very bad decision because it comes as the president prepares to announce a series of dramatic measures to resolve the crisis in the Palestinian territories," the official said. "This decision has played into the hands of Hamas, whose leaders will now win the sympathy of most Palestinians."
