JERUSALEM - Israel has agreed to let Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' security forces receive 25 armored personnel carriers and 1,000 rifles to fight West Bank militants, Israeli government officials said Wednesday, in an effort to bolster the moderate leader ahead of a Mideast conference in the United States next week.

In another gesture to the Palestinians, Israel will begin allowing strawberry and flower exports from the Gaza Strip in an effort to improve the economic situation for the 1.5 million Palestinians living there, Israeli Agriculture Minister Shalom Simchon said.

Israel and the Palestinians on Tuesday received long-awaited invitations to the U.S. conference, where they are expected to relaunch formal negotiations on a final peace agreement. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that a peace deal with the Palestinians was possible as early as next year.

Israel authorized the shipment of the Russian armored vehicles, 1,000 rifles and 2 million rounds of ammunition over the objections of Israel's army and internal Shin Bet security service, security officials said.

Security officials fear the vehicles and weapons will fall into the hands of the Hamas militant group, security officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

A Hamas spokesman, Sami Au Zuhri, said the Israeli decision proved Abbas was working "hand in hand with the occupation against (Palestinian) resistance."

"Hamas will remain committed to fight against the occupation and will not give up," Abu Zuhri said.

When Hamas overran Gaza in June, routing Fatah forces loyal to Abbas, the Islamic group captured large quantities of weapons supplied to Fatah by the United States and others with Israeli approval.

Since losing Gaza, Abbas and Fatah have been locked in a low-level struggle with Hamas over control of the West Bank. Because Israel still has large numbers of troops in the West Bank, siding with Fatah, Abbas has the upper hand.

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

Russia proposed shipping the armored vehicles to Palestinian security forces two years ago, but the deal was stalled because of Israeli opposition. No time frame was given for the vehicles' arrival.

Israel will approve the shipment of 25 more armored vehicles to Abbas' forces once they take control of other areas of the West Bank, the Israeli government officials said. Palestinian police are deployed in large numbers in the towns of Ramallah and Nablus.

The leader of the opposition Likud Party, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Abbas was not strong enough to receive weapons. "We will one day see Hamas sitting on the armored vehicles, firing at us," Netanyahu told Army Radio.

Since Hamas took control of Gaza, Israel has blocked almost all exports from the area, severely hurting the Gazan economy. All exports from Gaza must travel through Israel.

Gaza's 40,000 farmers have repeatedly pushed for the renewal of exports. Simchon's announcement that the Palestinians will be able to export all of their flower and strawberry crops will be worth at least $14 million (€9.5 million)to farmers, the Palestinian Chamber of Commerce said.

On Tuesday, farmers fed flowers to their cattle rather than let them go to waste.

Since the Hamas takeover, Israel has allowed only imports of food and humanitarian goods into Gaza, and it has reduced the amount of fuel it supplies to the territory. Israel will in the near future ease trade with Gaza further, Simchon said.

The international aid group Oxfam warned Wednesday of an increasing risk to public health in Gaza due to reduction in fuel supplies. About 225,000 people in Gaza do not receive adequate amounts of drinking water because water pumps are not operating at full capacity, Oxfam said in a release.

Abbas has asked Israel to ease its restrictions on impoverished Gaza. Abbas still claims to rule Gaza, though he has little influence there.

The Israeli decisions were meant to improve trust ahead of next week's conference, where the sides are expected to renew peace talks for the first time in seven years.

After a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday in the resort of Sharm el-Sheik, Olmert pledged to follow the peace conference in Annapolis with serious negotiations on all outstanding issues. These include final borders, sovereignty over disputed Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

The U.S. has been pushing the sides to endorse a joint document laying out their vision for peace ahead of the conference.

Negotiators say they have made little progress, casting a cloud over the summit. But Olmert on Tuesday offered an optimistic view of peace prospects with the Palestinians.

"I very much hope we can reach this agreement in the course of 2008," Olmert said in a press conference with Mubarak. However, Olmert also signaled that carrying out any peace deal would have to wait until Abbas regains control of the Gaza Strip from Hamas.

Olmert's one-day trip to Egypt came ahead of a meeting in Cairo Friday of the Arab League, where Arab governments will decide whether to attend the conference.

Arab participation is considered critical for the summit's success, but Arab states have been reluctant to commit for fear Israel is not serious about addressing the core issues of its conflict with the Palestinians.