Abbas Shuts Hamas Charities in West Bank

A Palestinian man walks next to a section of Israel's separation barrier, with graffiti painted by an unknown artist, between Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Bethlehem Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007. . Israel says the barrier is necessary for security, while Palestinians call it a land grab. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) (Emilio Morenatti - AP)

The head of the committee, Abdel Rahim Hanbali, said most of the money came from local donations.

On Tuesday, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was scheduled to announce the formation of 11 new charity committees to take the place of those dissolved.

In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the closure of the charities will lead to hunger in the West Bank. "It's an attempt to weaken Hamas, but the Palestinian citizen will pay the price, because they benefit from these committees."

Hamas' network of charities, schools and clinics was a key factor in the rising popularity of the movement and contributed to its victory over Fatah in parliament elections in 2006. At the same time, Fatah was weakened by deadlock in peace talks with Israel and widespread official corruption and mismanagement.

As part of the renewed U.S.-led peace efforts, Abbas has been pushing for Israeli confidence-building measures, such as prisoner releases, that would boost support for his policies.

Israel is holding about 9,000 prisoners, and their release is a central Palestinian demand. About 770 have been freed since July, far short of Palestinian expectations.

In other developments Monday:

_ Defending himself against hard-line critics, Olmert told the Israeli parliament "there is no alternative" to creating a Palestinian state next to Israel. He also said Israel would take part in rehabilitating Palestinian refugees, while rejecting the demand that they be resettled in Israel.

_ Israel held up the transfer of 25 Russian armored vehicles to Palestinian police in the West Bank because the Palestinians want to have them mounted with machine guns, security officials said. Olmert approved the shipment two weeks ago over the objections of his own security forces. Israeli officials said the armored vehicles were not intended to include machine guns.

_ About 550 Palestinian pilgrims crossed from Gaza into Egypt, heading to Saudi Arabia for the Muslim pilgrimage. It marked the first time since the Hamas takeover that Gazans were able to leave the territory for Egypt. About 200 were turned back for lack of Saudi visas, officials said.

_ In Israel, the Palestinian assassin of an ultranationalist Israeli Cabinet minister was sentenced to life in prison Monday, and given 100 more years for bombing and shooting attacks on other Israelis. Hamdi Quran gunned down Rehavam Zeevi, Israel's tourism minister, in a Jerusalem hotel in October 2001. Quran had been in Palestinian custody until last year, when he was seized by Israeli forces.

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Associated Press reporters Mohammed Daraghmeh and Dalia Nammari in Ramallah and Diaa Hadid in Jerusalem contributed to this report.