Iran is helping Hamas upgrade its military capabilities by providing technology, funding and direct military training to Palestinian militants throughout the Middle East, Israel Defense Forces GOC Southern Command Yoav Gallant said yesterday.

Gallant said Hamas has taken advantage of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip to build itself up. "Boosted by their newfound ability to travel abroad, Hamas militants have been going back and forth to hostile countries for training," he said.

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"They are sending activists to Syria, Lebanon, Iran," Gallant, speaking in English, said at the public briefing. "And the opposite [happens]. People from Iran come inspect the situation in the area, give them the proper training and coaching, exam them and see if they hit the target they gave them."

Asked to elaborate, Gallant would not say whether Iranian agents have visited Gaza.

"The Iranians don't have to come by themselves in order to see what is the situation," he said. "If there is a Palestinian who is connected to Hezbollah and working for Iran and is moving to the Iranian side, learning methods, getting orders and moving them to the Palestinian side, that is for me good enough to explain the situation."

Gallant said the training and technology has enabled Hamas to grow from a ragtag militia into a well-organized group resembling an army - complete with battalions, companies, platoons and special forces for surveillance, snipers and explosives experts.

Israel has repeatedly accused Iran - as well as its allies Syria and Hezbollah - of supporting Palestinian militant groups. Hamas' Damascus-based political leader, Khaled Meshal, was in Tehran this week raising money for his group.

Earlier this week, Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin said that dozens of Hamas operatives are going to Iran for training.

Islam Shahwan, a spokesman for Hamas' Gaza militia, dismissed Gallant's comments as propaganda. He said Iran has offered scholarships to train members of Palestinian security, including Hamas militiamen, but no one has attended the classes yet.

Gallant also called the Gaza strip cease-fire a tactical move for Hamas to strengthen itself. "While observing the truce, Israel has a military plan ready," he said.

"We prefer to give a chance to the cease-fire at the present," he added. "But we have to prepare ourselves for a war situation in the future," he said. He did not elaborate.

"Hamas has managed to arm itself by smuggling goods through tunnels across the border with Egypt," Gallant said.

He said Egypt would have to build a fence on its side of the border to halt the smugglers. "I think that sooner or later we will create some kind of an obstacle, physical obstacle on the border, something that wasn't necessary during the last years, but it is necessary now."

Abdullah: U.S. should take lead in peace

Citing the risks of further delay, Jordan's King Abdullah II said yesterday the United States must take the lead in creating conditions for a permanent peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Speaking to a joint meeting of Congress, Abdullah said history has shown no progress in Middle East peacemaking is possible without American leadership.

"We look to you to play a historic role," he said, adding that results are needed not in one year or five years, but now.

"No more bloodshed, no more lives pointlessly taken," Abdullah declared.

His remarks were limited almost entirely to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. and were far less critical of Israel than comments he made before his departure for Washington.