Israel To Stop Funding Illegal Settlements

An Israeli official said Monday the government would cut off funding for unauthorized outposts in the West Bank.

Government spokesman Mark Regev said Defense Minister Ehud Barak had two weeks to begin taking steps and report back to the Cabinet. Regev said it was "a matter of the rule of law."

CBS News correspondent Robert Berger reports that the outposts have never officially been authorized by the Israeli government, but have received tacit assistance for years.

The Cabinet decided Sunday to ratchet up law enforcement measures directed at extremist settlers. It also decided to halt government funding for the some 100 outposts built by settlers.

The government has promised in the past to evacuate outposts but has done nearly nothing.

The crackdown came a day after a security chief warned that Jewish extremists could try to assassinate an Israeli leader.

Meanwhile, Tuesday's U.S. election is already having an impact on the Middle East peace process, reports Berger.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says President Bush's goal of a peace agreement with Israel in 2008 cannot be achieved. Abbas said the reason is the American election, and early elections in Israel scheduled to take place in February.

Abbas said negotiations would resume after the elections in both countries.

Also Monday, the exiled leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas was in Beirut for a rare visit to meet with Lebanese leaders.

The Syria-based Khaled Mashaal's trip to Beirut is his first known visit since Israeli warplanes destroyed his faction's office in the Lebanese capital during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

His movements are largely kept secret because of assassination fears.

Lebanon's National News Agency says Mashaal arrived Monday and held talks with the country's president and other leaders about the situation in Lebanon's 12 Palestinian refugee camps.

The dispute between Hamas and the other major Palestinian faction, Fatah, has raised tensions among Lebanon's 400,000 Palestinian refugees.