Israel tightens squeeze on Hamas government

JERUSALEM – Israel followed up its pledge to cut all contacts with the new Hamas-led Palestinian Authority by ordering the symbolic closure yesterday of a security liaison office in the West Bank town of Jericho.

The Palestinian officers who had been working alongside Israeli counterparts in the office at the entrance to the town were given until noon to pack their bags in the latest sign of the total breakdown in relations between the two sides since the Islamist group formed its first government last month. An army statement said that the move was “in accordance with a decision made by the political echelon” and comes following a new pledge by Israel’s acting premier Ehud Olmert to have no links at all with the Hamas regime.”Israel will not hold ties with the Palestinian Authority which is a hostile authority,” he said on Sunday during a meeting with security chiefs.Olmert has consistently said that he would have no contact with a Hamas-led government but the move to cut contacts at such a low level as the district coordinating office indicates a new determination to make life as difficult as possible for Hamas to govern properly.Israel has also instituted a boycott of foreign diplomats who meet any members of the new government, although officials who meet with the moderate Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas will not be shunned.As part of the diplomatic drive to isolate Hamas – which has been behind dozens of suicide attacks in the five-year uprising – the European Union and United States have cut funding to the Palestinian Authority.The decision by the EU to freeze funding was expected to be rubber-stamped later in the day at a meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg, despite the fierce protests of the already cash-strapped Palestinian Authority.Prime minister Ismail Haniya has accused the EU and US, which both regard Hamas as a terrorist organisation, of trying to “blackmail” his government by cutting funds to a democratically elected government.The EU and US however insist that the Islamists, who have held off attacks for the last year, must unequivocally renounce the use of violence and recognise Israel’s right to exist if they want to be brought in from the cold.Around a hundred Palestinian youths took part in a protest in Gaza City Monday against the EU move, hurling eggs at the United Nations headquarters from where local EU staff are currently working.The EU and US make up one half of the so-called Middle East quartet which has tried with little success to broker an end to the Middle East conflict based on a two-state solution.- Nampa-AFPAn army statement said that the move was “in accordance with a decision made by the political echelon” and comes following a new pledge by Israel’s acting premier Ehud Olmert to have no links at all with the Hamas regime.”Israel will not hold ties with the Palestinian Authority which is a hostile authority,” he said on Sunday during a meeting with security chiefs.Olmert has consistently said that he would have no contact with a Hamas-led government but the move to cut contacts at such a low level as the district coordinating office indicates a new determination to make life as difficult as possible for Hamas to govern properly.Israel has also instituted a boycott of foreign diplomats who meet any members of the new government, although officials who meet with the moderate Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas will not be shunned.As part of the diplomatic drive to isolate Hamas – which has been behind dozens of suicide attacks in the five-year uprising – the European Union and United States have cut funding to the Palestinian Authority.The decision by the EU to freeze funding was expected to be rubber-stamped later in the day at a meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg, despite the fierce protests of the already cash-strapped Palestinian Authority.Prime minister Ismail Haniya has accused the EU and US, which both regard Hamas as a terrorist organisation, of trying to “blackmail” his government by cutting funds to a democratically elected government.The EU and US however insist that the Islamists, who have held off attacks for the last year, must unequivocally renounce the use of violence and recognise Israel’s right to exist if they want to be brought in from the cold.Around a hundred Palestinian youths took part in a protest in Gaza City Monday against the EU move, hurling eggs at the United Nations headquarters from where local EU staff are currently working.The EU and US make up one half of the so-called Middle East quartet which has tried with little success to broker an end to the Middle East conflict based on a two-state solution.- Nampa-AFP