Ghanem, working as a field worker for B'Tselem, was said to have been
recruited by the Israel Security Agency in 1996 and ordered to track the
movements of Fatah fugitives. Later, he launched a news service that
provided ISA with information on PA security officers as well as Fatah
operations and
finances.
Palestinian sources said Hamas executed dozens of Fatah members on
charges of working for Israeli intelligence. They said the survival of the
Hamas regime has bolstered the organization in the West Bank.
At the same time, the PA has been sentencing suspected Israeli agents to
death. On Jan. 25, a PA security court sentenced a former member of the
Presidential Guard to death by firing squad after he confessed to spying for
Israel.
In mid-January, the PA arrested about 50 Hamas operatives throughout the
West Bank. The detainees included clerics, journalists and PA employees
believed to have relayed information to Hamas.
"We won't allow the conspiracy of splitting the West Bank from the Gaza
Strip to pass," PA adviser Yasser Abbed Rabbo said. "We won't allow Hamas to
destroy our national project, regardless of the price."
