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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israel closes Rafah crossing to curb money transfer |
| 2006-12-15 |
| Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz Thursday ordered the army to shut down the Rafah crossing, preventing Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya from transferring a large sum of cash into the Gaza Strip, the Ha'aretz daily reported. Haneya arrived in Egypt on Thursday and will return to the strip from his first tour of Arab and Muslim countries, including Iran and Sudan. Haneya said that Iran had promised him to transfer 250 million U.S. dollars to his government in order to help defuse the financial crisis in the Palestinian National Authority. Israeli security sources said that the closure was not aimed at curbing Haneya from returning to the strip, but the cash transfer, the report said. The West has imposed financial boycott on Hamas since it formed a cabinet in late March. Hamas had to raise fund overseas in order to cover expenditure. Some senior Hamas officials have taken into the strip millions of dollars in recent months, according to Israeli security sources. |
| Posted by:Fred |