Abbas wanted Israel to help attack Hamas, WikiLeaks cable shows

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wanted Israel's unprecedented help to attack Hamas after the militant group overthrew his Fatah movement in a bloody coup, according to a classified cable just released by WikiLeaks.

In the June 2007 cable, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Richard Jones wrote that Shin Bet security chief Yuval Diskin had told him in a meeting that Fatah was in complete despair over the situation in the Gaza Strip.

The cable was released at the beginning of the violent clashes between Fatah and Hamas; three days after the meeting between Jones and Diskin on June 9, Hamas seized control of the coastal territory and displaced the Palestinian Authority government there.

Israel has "established a very good working relationship" with Abbas' forces, Diskin told Jones in their meeting. As Hamas was overrunning Gaza, Diskin said, some desperate Fatah leaders even wanted Israel to attack Hamas.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/abbas-wanted-israel-to-help-attack-hamas-wikileaks-cable-shows-1.331654