OLMERT
JERUSALEM (Reuters):
ISRAEL CALLED a permanent halt yesterday to its monthly transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority, but settled for a watered-down package of other sanctions after a Hamas-led Palestinian Parliament was sworn in.
In Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' choice for Prime Minister, said "everything will be on the table" when he and other leaders of the militant group meet President Mahmoud Abbas later in the day for talks on forming a national unity government.
At its weekly meeting, interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Cabinet appeared to bow to United States calls to avoid adding to Palestinian hardship, deciding against tough measures Israeli defence officials proposed to try to weaken Hamas.
HARD-LINE MEASURES
They had included a ban on the entry of Palestinian workers into Israel - several thousand are allowed in daily - and a tightening of restrictions on the movement of Palestinians between the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.
Instead, the Cabinet announced a permanent halt to the monthly transfer of about US$50 million in tax revenues Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians each month. Israel said last month such payments would no longer be automatic.
SET AGAINST HAMAS
The Cabinet also said in a statement that Israel would ask international donors to discontinue all financial aid to the Palestinian Authority, save for "humanitarian assistance provided to the Palestinian population".
Security checks at crossing points for Palestinians and commercial goods on the Israel-Gaza border would be stepped up and Israel would prevent the transfer of any equipment to the Palestinian security forces, the statement added.
"We are not interested in causing a humanitarian crisis and we are not fighting against Palestinian citizens, but against a terrorist government that controls the Palestinian Authority," Olmert was quoted as saying by a senior official.
Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called the Israeli measures harmful.
Hamas, dedicated to Israel's destruction, crushed Abbas' long-dominant Fatah faction in the January 25 Palestinian election and holds 74 seats in the 132-member Parliament sworn in on Saturday.
