Egyptian security forces blocked two Hamas officials on Tuesday from entering the Islamist-run Gaza Strip with night-vision goggles and around $900,000 in cash, security and customs sources said.
The Hamas officials were stopped at the Gaza border after customs agents found the cash -- 500,000 euros and $250,000 -- during a search of their bags as they headed home after taking part in Palestinian reconciliation talks in Cairo.
"These amounts were found and contact is currently underway with the Egyptian finance ministry to take a decision in the matter," a customs source said. Security and customs sources said authorities also found two pairs of night-vision goggles.
Diplomats and analysts see the success of the Egyptian-sponsored talks as key to reuniting Palestinians after 21 months of schism between Hamas-run Gaza and the West Bank, where the Fatah group of President Mahmoud Abbas holds sway.
Fatah and Hamas, the largest two Palestinian groups, differ fundamentally on how to deal with Israel. Islamist Hamas believes in armed struggle, though it is willing to consider a truce, while Abbas backs negotiations with the Jewish state.
Rival Palestinian groups agreed on Sunday to hold presidential and legislative elections by January 2010 but remained deadlocked over the key issue of forming a unity government that would prepare for the polls.
It was the second time in two months that Egyptian authorities have stopped Hamas officials from bringing large sums of money into Gaza.
Egyptian officials in February forced Hamas official Ayman Taha to deposit more then $11 million in cash in a bank in the Egyptian town of El Arish on Thursday after he tried to bring it into Gaza. Taha later crossed into Gaza without the money.
Security sources said that in addition to the two Hamas men stopped at the border, authorities had also prevented two other Palestinian officials from bringing communications equipment into Gaza including a satellite telephone and a GPS device.
Those officials had also been taking part in reconciliation talks but the sources were unsure what group they belonged to.
Security sources said that all four Palestinians would be allowed to cross into Gaza without the cash and equipment.
(1 euro = $1.3)
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