Terror Connection

Back in 2003, I read a lot of articles about how Iran was funding and and coordinating Palestinian terror groups in the Occupied Territories via Hizbullah. I'd vaguely wondered if that was still going on, as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has not thus far distinguished himself with restraint regarding the Jewish state. According to Ha'aretz, things may have changed some in 2005:

"In the West Bank, Hezbollah activity appears to have declined recently, as compared to that of Palestinian terror groups. In 2003 and 2004, Hezbollah was the most prominent cause of terror in the territories: The Israel Defense Forces estimates that more than 70 percent of the terror attacks in the West Bank were initiated by the Lebanese group, which provided funding and general instructions for the attacks, most of which were carried out by Fatah and Islamic Jihad...

"Hezbollah has decided to limit its activity in the West Bank. At the moment, the organization is making sure to demand confirmation of terror activity from the Palestinian cells with which it maintains contact. In addition, the Palestinian Authority has discovered that it is easy to 'buy the silence' of terrorists who work with Hezbollah. Many of them - primarily members of Tanzim, which is affiliated with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' ruling Fatah party - crossed over to work for the Palestinian security services in the past year, in exchange for a regular paycheck."

Control of the Palestinian security forces is an important issue which doesn't get enough quality attention in the Western press.