Israel approved the transfer of a shipment of armoured vehicles and ammunition to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' security forces ahead of a U.S.-led peace conference, Israeli officials said on Wednesday.
The shipment, which includes ammunition and 25 lightly armoured vehicles, will be used in the West Bank city of Nablus in a bid to bolster Abbas against Hamas. "Within the framework of the Israeli gestures intended to bolster the Palestinian security forces for the prevention of terror, Israel has agreed to allow the Palestinians to receive 25 armoured vehicles for Nablus," an Israeli government official said, according to Reuters.
Israel has provided earlier this year shipments of vehicles and ammunition in coordination with the U.S. administration and allowed more than 300 members of the Palestinian National Security forces to deploy in Nablus. "In the event that additional Palestinian forces will be deployed in other Palestinian cities, Israel will favourably consider the entry of 25 more vehicles for security purposes," the official said.
On Tuesday, the United States announced that the Annapolis Middle East peace conference will be held on November 27. The United States is inviting 49 countries, groups of nations, financial institutions and individuals to the event. Israel and the Palestinians received their invitations Tuesday, and U.S. embassies elsewhere were notifying the others, asking them to send their foreign ministers or other appropriate officials to the event, the U.S. State Department said.
Syria and Saudi Arabia are expected to announce their level of representation at the conference following the Arab foreign ministers' meeting at Arab League headquarters in Cairo on Thursday and Friday.
