Israel allows transfer of rifles, bullets to PA

Jordan recently facilitated the transfer of close to 1,000 automatic rifles and some 10,000 bullets to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, defense officials revealed Thursday.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak approved the transfer of the weaponry after the PA requested the shipment, which it said would be used in the campaign Prime Minister Salaam Fayad is currently waging against Hamas in the West Bank.

Defense officials expressed cautious satisfaction with the performance of the Palestinian security forces, Israel Radio reported, stressing that their activity so far had been mostly relegated to fighting corruption.

But IDF officials, especially in operational units working in the West Bank, expressed fear that the weapons would eventually find their way into terrorists' hands.

Fayad's campaign is targeted at money launderers, many of whom help finance Hamas, and against other Hamas terrorists in the West Bank.

Transferring weapons to the Palestinians has been a heated issue since the 1990s, when US weaponry was given to Palestinian forces subservient to then-PA chairman Yasser Arafat in the wake of the Oslo Accords, since these weapons were used later in terror attacks against Israelis.

Several months ago, Barak encountered strong opposition when he was preparing to transfer to Palestinian forces several Russian-made armored personnel carriers.