An Iranian-backed group, Hizbollah, has threatened to kill Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas if he continues to work for reconciliation with Israel, a British newspaper claimed on Sunday. According to Sunday Telegraph, the threats to Mahmoud Abbas came via Palestinian Hizbollah contacts. The newspaper reports the security forces are taking them "very, very seriously". "Many groups both here [in Palestine] and outside do not want a ceasefire because a ceasefire means they will be without power," Sunday Telegraph quoted an unnamed Palestinian official as saying. "As in Iraq, a lot of different powers and groups in the region are involved here and are trying to manage the resistance in our territory. Abbas is challenging their power, and so it is a dangerous path for him." Some media reports also indicate that the Palestinian president personally acknowledged that Hizbollah might be after his life during a private meeting with two US senators — Joe Biden and John Sununu — shortly before last month's Palestinian election. "He said the main threat might be less Hamas and more external," Newsweek International recently claimed.
The Palestinian officials have now intercepted e-mail and other correspondence, showing the bank transactions through which Hizbollah provided funds for Palestinian terrorists. According to Sunday Telegraph, Hizbollah operatives in Lebanon have been offering up to $100,000 "to any Palestinian willing to carry out a suicide attack against Israel". Analysts believe Mahmoud Abbas is faced with a formidable challenge of convincing Palestinian militants to halt attacks against Israel and let him try to negotiate an end to the Israeli occupation. His patience was tested when Hamas attacked Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip just two days after his talks in Egypt, making him sack three senior security officials for failing to prevent the violence.