Members of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization are working with Hamas cells in the so-called West Bank to carry out terrorist attacks against Israelis.

According to Fatah officials who spoke to WorldNetDaily, members of the two groups active in the West Bank have formed a new umbrella group called the Fire Belt under which joint terrorist operations will be conducted.

The news gave the lie to assertions out of Washington and other Western governments that Abbas and Fatah are today totally opposed to Hamas and its views, providing fertile ground for a final status peace agreement between Israel and the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority.

In line with that position, the Bush Administration has joined a number of other governments in resuming large-scale financial aid to Fatah, ignoring concerns that they are directly financing terrorism against the Jewish state.