News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton thanked Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Thursday for transferring 150 million shekels to the Fatah faction in Gaza, according to Ynet. In a phone call to Olmert, Clinton said the money supports the moderates.

The money is officially supposed to those who are defined as Palestinian Authority employees in Gaza, but since Hamas controls the southern Mediterranean coastal area, military and diplomatic sources fear that the funds will go to those serving Hamas, if not to terror groups. Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Clinton's counterpart, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, opposed the transfer, which faces a challenge from the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel.