Arab Collaborators

• Hamas spokesman's brother arrested in Egypt

• Egyptian security forces discovered on Monday a new tunnel used for smuggling foodstuffs at the border with the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip. The Egyptian authorities discovered the tunnel in Rafah town between Egypt and the Gaza Strip from the Egyptian side and confiscated different shipments of goods found at the entrance of the tunnel.

• RAFAH, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Once a profitable business, Abu Abdallah's tunnel under the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip has been out of work for three weeks due to an Egyptian security crackdown on smuggling. The Palestinian network of some 3,000 tunnels, created to thwart Israel's blockade of the coastal territory ruled by Hamas Islamists, was reduced to hundreds by bombing during Israel's three-week offensive in January.

• Egyptian authorities announced earlier this month the discovery of a Hizbullah "cell" allegedly planning to carry out violent operations in Egypt. Although Hizbullah chief Hasan Nasrallah insists the group was only tasked to assist the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, the government has used the episode to launch a blistering media campaign against the Lebanese Shia resistance group.

• Two Lebanese men and a Palestinian have confessed to supplying Israeli intelligence agents with information regarding Hezbollah's activities, media outlets in Lebanon reported on Tuesday.

• Security sources in the capital of the South, Sidon, said on Tuesday that a Lebanese Army unit carried out raids in Harat Saida near (Speaker) Nabih Berri Avenue, targeting the home of an Israeli Mossad-linked agent's brother in the city. According to the sources, the army unit stormed into the house of Palestinian Moujahed Awad, the brother of Mohamad Ibrahim Awad who was accused last week of spying for the Israeli enemy. Awad, a member of the Israeli Mossad-Linked cell uncovered in Sidon last week, is reportedly the cousin of Abdul Rahman Awad, believed to be the successor of Fatah al-Islam leader Shaker Abssi.

• The United States plans to expand a programme to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's security forces in the occupied West Bank, the general in charge of training and equipping them said on Monday. "We have plans to train at least three more battalions before this time next year," Lieutenant General Keith Dayton told Reuters. Each battalion has about 500 members.

• Dahlan comeback to Gaza fails - CAIRO (IPS) - The recent onslaught against the Gaza Strip -- and Israel's failure to achieve its military objectives there -- left Palestinian resistance group Hamas politically stronger than ever. Concurrently, it dealt a possible death blow to the faction within Fatah led by strongman Mohammed Dahlan, long known for its closeness to Israel.