Israel says Palestinians used aid money to buy arms

Israel today claimed a captured former Palestinian finance official admitted using foreign donor money to finance millions of dollars in arms purchases, on the direct orders from then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

A statement from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office said Fouad Shobaki, snatched by the Israelis in a March raid on a Palestinian prison, told his interrogators that as head of finance for the Palestinian security services he channelled at least £5million in aid money and public funds to buy arms, ammunition, and explosives, some of which was used by the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a militant group loosely linked with Arafat’s Fatah organisation.

“According to Shobaki, the financing for these war materiel purchases came from international assistance, tax revenues from the Gaza Strip, customs revenues transferred by Israel and funds from Arab countries,” the Israeli statement said, without elaborating.