Or just the same old, same old?
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...3-2703,00.html
Hamas PM stopped on $45m cash run
Stephen Farrell in Gaza
December 15, 2006
HAMAS gunmen stormed the Gaza crossing into Egypt today after Israel refused to allow Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya to enter Gaza carrying $US35 million ($45 million) in cash.
The Hamas leader had been on a fundraising trip to Iran, Syria and other Arab countries to try to circumvent international sanctions that have left his Government broke and unable to pay 165,000 public servants for months.
European monitors at Rafah raised no objection to his bringing the money into Gaza, so long as it was declared. Israel blocked his entry because it feared that the cash would be used to fund terrorism. Israel, in common with the US and EU, regards Hamas as a terrorist organisation.
The stand-off led to violence when hundreds of Hamas supporters raced to the passenger terminal to assist Mr Haniya, shouting: “God is great, let’s liberate this place.”
Palestinian security officials blew a hole in the border fence near the crossing, and exchanged fire with their Fatah-dominated rivals in Mahmoud Abbas’s Presidential Guard.
One of Mr Haniya’s bodyguards was killed as his convoy sped from the scene in utility trucks. Hamas officials claimed that he died protecting Mr Haniya from an attempt to kill him. Mr Haniya’s son, Abed, was also injured.
Hospital officials said that at least 27 people were wounded in the fighting, at the border. Witnesses said that terrified passengers hid behind walls and taxis while the gun battle raged as both sides fought for control of the border crossing.
The violence bodes ill for any chance of restarting talks to form a national unity government.
When he got home at midnight, local time, having secured his passage by agreeing to leave the money in an Egyptian bank, a furious Mr Haniya said: “We know the party that shot directly at our cars, injuring some of the people with me . . . and we also know how to deal with this.”
Mr Haniya’s tour had included a stop in Iran, where he announced that Tehran had donated $US250 million. He then went to Khartoum, where he said the Sudanese regime had extended $US10 million in aid to the Palestinians.
The donations came after an announcement by Arab League nations that they would no longer abide by the financial embargo imposed on the Palestinian Authority after Hamas came to power in May. These have included US threats of sanctions on bank transfers.
Mr Haniya is by no means the first prominent Hamas official to bring huge amounts of cash into Gaza. Last month Mahmoud Zahar, the Foreign Minister, carried $US20 million stuffed into 12 suitcases, also after returning from Iran. Two Hamas MPs also brought in $US4 million last month.
Hamas insists that it hands the cash straight to the Finance Ministry to pay salaries, but Israel fears that the funds could be used for nefarious purposes.
Israeli officials refused to say whether there had been a formal change of policy since Dr Zahar’s trip, but confirmed that they were reassessing the arrangements.
Mark Regev, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, said: “The idea is that we don’t want cash going into Gaza because it can go straight to the armed elements and be used to strengthen the terrorist infrastructure. It is true that cash has come in in the past. That is bad.”
The Rafah crossing - Gaza’s only lifeline to the outside world - is now operated by Egyptian and Palestinian forces supervised by EU monitors (Eubam). All other Palestinian land, sea and air crossings into the 40km strip are controlled by the Israeli military.
While no Israeli soldiers are present at Rafah, Israel can shut the crossing simply by withdrawing its liaison officer monitoring proceedings at a nearby military post.
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