From the ArcaMax Publishing, News & Features Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/newsheadlines/s-374236-581065
JERUSALEM (UPI) -- Israeli military forces say they are shutting down
Hamas-affiliated institutions in the West Bank, including schools,
health centers and charities.
Israeli officials say Hamas, the more militant of the two main
Palestinian Arab factions, is spreading its control from Gaza to the
West Bank, where popular support for it over the more moderate Fatah
faction is enabling Hamas to take over not just Islamic institutions
but civilian infrastructure as well, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz
reported Monday.
Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper said the Israeli military is
fighting "a rearguard battle" by targeting Hamas-controlled
institutions in an attempt to cut off funding sources for terrorist
activities. A military source said the move is also meant as a bid to
stem Hamas' rising popularity and keep it from wresting control from
the Palestinian Authority.
"They have knowledge, funds and skilled people, much more so than
Fatah," the source told Haaretz. "They won the elections in many towns
and local authorities, and they are gradually gaining control of more
education, health, welfare and religious institutions."