In one of the alarming news items of the past week, it was reported that Israel has green-lighted the transfer of 1,000 rifles from Jordan to the security forces loyal to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

This is not the first time Israel has permitted the transfer of weapons and security equipment to Abbas' forces. The alarming thing about this report is that Abbas and his circles continue to cling to the illusion that the failure in the Gaza Strip was purely military. Equally alarming is Fatah's determination to do what Israel and the United States expect (and which it failed to do in Gaza): Fight Hamas.

And there have been several other disturbing news items in recent days: Once again Israeli representatives are permitted to talk with official Palestinian representatives abroad; Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas will meet again in the near future, this time in Jericho; civil coordination between Israel and the PA has been renewed; and at the Muqata in Ramallah a new American-Palestinian business project has been launched after President George W. Bush approved a loan of $228 million for small and medium-sized Palestinian businesses to improve the Palestinians' living standard. "The United States is committed to strengthening the Palestinian economy ... as an important step toward a peaceful and independent Palestinian state," declared the official July 27 State Department announcement.