Israeli cites Iran ‘danger’
TEL AVIV, Israel – The head of Israel’s domestic intelligence agency said Monday that Iran is giving advanced military training to members of Hamas, a move he called a “strategic danger” to the Jewish state.
Yuval Diskin, the director of Shin Bet, said that the militant movement had dispatched dozens of fighters from the Gaza Strip to Iran for “months, maybe years” of instruction and that Iran had promised to train hundreds more.
A Hamas spokesman denied the assertion. The training, if confirmed, would mean that Iran is expanding its alliance with Hamas, which Israel and the United States list as a terrorist organization and which has controlled the Palestinian Authority government for nearly a year.
Since Western nations cut off aid to the Palestinian government last spring after Hamas’ ascendance, Iran has provided at least $120 million.
Reports of Iran’s training of Hamas militants, previously attributed to unnamed Israeli and Palestinian officials, have been circulating for weeks. Diskin’s remark at a rare briefing for foreign reporters was the first such official claim and echoed a drumbeat of charges by the Bush administration that Iran exports terrorism.
The intelligence chief said Hamas is continuing to stockpile weapons smuggled into Gaza through Egypt. But he said Hamas’ development of arms factories in Gaza and its alleged training in Iran are greater long-term threats to Israel.
Mosher Masri, a Hamas member of the Palestinian parliament, said Diskin was spreading a false allegation about training to undermine Hamas and build a case for renewed attacks in the Gaza Strip.
Israel fought a five-month offensive in Gaza last year after Hamas-linked militants captured an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid. Diskin said Hamas is taking advantage of a cease-fire reached with Israel in November to prepare for a future military confrontation. The soldier is still being held.
Whether Israel continues to abide by the cease-fire depends on Egypt’s ability to stop weapons smuggling into Gaza, Diskin said.
With support from the Bush administration, Israel has tried for months to isolate Hamas politically by strengthening Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of the rival Fatah movement and engaging him in peace talks.
That strategy hit a roadblock last month when Fatah, seeking to end months of armed clashes with Hamas, agreed at a meeting in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to join the Palestinian government as a minority partner, despite having failed to persuade Hamas to recognize Israel and forswear violence against the Jewish state.