HIZBOLLAH (IRAN) FUNDING HAMAS

Hamas Web site says group received Hizbollah money.

GAZA (Reuters) - A Hamas Web site disclosed on Wednesday that fighters from the Palestinian militant group had received funding and training from the Iranian-backed Hizbollah movement in Lebanon, a link long denied by Hamas leaders.  A Hamas spokesman in Gaza declined to comment on the information on the Web site, www.info@alqassam.ws, run by the group’s armed wing, Izz el-Deen al-Qassam. There was no immediate comment from Hizbollah in Beirut.

The site said Hamas, which is dedicated to Israel’s destruction and won the January 25 Palestinian election, received funds from Hizbollah to set up the first Hamas cell in the occupied West Bank after an uprising began in 2000. Over the course of three years, members of the cell — 10 of whom were eventually killed or jailed by Israeli security forces — carried out attacks that killed 18 Israelis. Hamas member Jaser al-Barghouthi, who formed the cell and recruited its gunmen, sent emissaries to Lebanon “to be trained by Hizbollah and return with needed funds,” the Web site said, without giving a figure.

The Internet site did not say whether Hizbollah had provided money or training for other Hamas cells. Israel has alleged for years that Hizbollah, one of its most bitter enemies and instrumental in its decision to withdraw from southern Lebanon in 2000 after 22 years of occupation, has been giving Hamas funds and logistical support.