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Fatah troops allowed into Gaza

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From the Washington Post

Israel this week allowed the Palestinian Fatah movement to bring into the Gaza Strip as many as 500 fresh troops trained under a U.S.-coordinated program to counter Hamas, the militant Islamic group that won Palestinian parliamentary elections last year. Fighting between the rivals has left about 45 Palestinians dead since Sunday.

The forces are with units loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate Fatah leader whom the Bush administration and Israel have sought to strengthen militarily and politically.

The fighters entered Gaza from Egypt at the Rafah crossing, said a spokeswoman for the European Union Border Assistance Mission. The effort to fortify armed opposition to Hamas, which the United States and Israel categorize as a terrorist organization, follows attempts to isolate the Islamist group internationally and cut off its sources of financial aid.

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The two Palestinian parties, in a power-sharing government, have been fighting for control of various security services and, by extension, political power since Hamas won elections in January 2006.

The troops Israel allowed in this week were trained by Egyptian authorities under a program coordinated by Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, a special U.S. envoy.

The Bush administration recently approved $40 million to train the Palestinian Presidential Guard, a force of about 4,000 troops under Abbas’ control. But a U.S. official said none of the troops who arrived this week were trained with U.S. funds.

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