The United States has begun training a second battalion of security forces loyal to Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas. A group of 500 men crossed the Allenby Bridge into Jordan on Thursday to begin a four-month course that will cover police tactics and riot control.
Israeli opposition leaders have charged that the "police forces" serve as a cover for a military army for the PA, which the government officially prohibits. The American strategy is to train the forces to maintain law and order in Judea and Samaria in order to bolster Fatah's popularity at the expense of Hamas.