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Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has asked Israel for permission to bring the Jordanian based Badr Brigade to the West Bank to help Fatah maintain control over Hamas. (Reuters)

Israel is considering its response to the request which was made at Monday’s Sharm el-Sheikh summit in Egypt. It is thought that the deployment could shore up Fatah while avoiding Israeli military intervention against Hamas, which would turn West Bank Palestinians against Fatah.

Israel’s military intelligence had expressed concern that Fatah could lose control of the West Bank to Hamas.

The Badr Brigade is considered to be loyal to Fatah and its strength reckoned to be between 1,000 and 2,000 trained fighters. Analysts say Badr is Fatah’s best trained equipped fighting force, aside from Abbas’s Presidential Guard. It is considered to be more loyal to Fatah than other forces and also has strong ties to the Jordanian king. Other analysts, however, have questioned its preparedness for action against militant groups.

If allowed in, the brigade would reinforce the Presidential Guard and other Fatah-dominated security services.

Hamas, who tried to trump yesterday’s summit with the release of a recorded message from captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, is feeling increasingly isolated after Egypt’s Mubarak and other Arab leaders have blamed them for the violence in Gaza. Mubarak said Hamas had made “a dangerous mistake” by letting “chaos prevail.” Nevertheless, he believes that after a time for the cooling of tensions, talks between Fatah and Hamas will resume. In the meantime, Hamas can count on the support of Al Qaeda.

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