Israel authorises 1,000 guns for Palestinian Authority: report

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel recently authorised a shipment of 1,000 rifles from Jordan to the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

The largest ever arms transfer authorised by Israel to security forces loyal to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the West Bank, it is meant to help prevent a possible Hamas challenge or takeover as in Gaza, Haaretz said.
A spokeswoman in Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office neither confirmed nor denied the report when questioned by AFP.

The weapons were delivered to security forces, whose Gaza colleagues were routed by Hamas fighters last month, under strict confidence to prevent any possible leak that could undermine Abbas' standing, the paper said.

This year, several thousand rifles were delivered from Egypt and Jordan to Fatah forces in Gaza and the West Bank, but most have fallen into the hands of Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since mid-June, Haaretz said.