Disturbing update from Israeli Defence Minister...

This is indeed disturbing...

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday that Hamas is growing stronger and becoming a power in its own right, in parallel to the Palestinian Authority.

He also said there have been concrete threats made recently by Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah to abduct Israeli soldiers, and that the GOC Northern Command, Major General Benny Gantz, had been alerted.

Hamas has scored an impressive political success in the May 5 local elections and, said Mofaz, is building a popular army, under the PA's nose.

He said the PA was not moving effectively against terrorist organizations because it was unwilling to clash with them. Last week, Mofaz said, several Hamas members were arrested by the PA, but were released several hours later after they threatened the PA.

The security calm has been eroding ever since the Sharm el-Sheikh summit in February and there have been more than 400 violations of the cease-fire, mainly by Islamic Jihad and Hamas, said Mofaz. He also said that since April there has been an increase in rocket attacks coming from the Gaza Strip across the pre-1967 borders, and said that further escalation is possible.

In reply to a question from Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as to whether the terrorists have high-trajectory weapons, Mofaz said that the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are working to increase the range of their rockets.

"We'll continue monitoring these attempts, and won't accept firing at Israel, including Gush Katif," he said.

Mofaz said that any attempt to introduce high-trajectory weapons into the West Bank or any intelligence about such arms development constitutes a "ticking bomb," and he has instructed the security services to address the issue.

Mofaz said that if the PA had indeed collected weapons from wanted men, as it has claimed, it would be possible to resume transferring responsibility for the West Bank cities. Mofaz said this was stressed in meetings with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, PA Civil Affairs Minister Mohammed Dahlan and PA Interior Minister Nasser Yousef. He said the Palestinians had tried to integrate the wanted men into their security services, but that Israel had made clear it insisted on their weapons being confiscated.

Regarding the border with Lebanon, Mofaz said that Israel must respond responsibly to Hezbollah attacks on Israeli outposts in the Har Dov area and the Katyusha attack on the northern town of Shlomi. "It's important not to be dragged into provocation, and messages on this matter have been conveyed to UNIFIL and other countries," he said.

We keep on saying it, the only way for true progress in the middle east is for the Palestinians to disarm the terrorists.