GAZA ARMS SMUGGLING

Dichter: Israel must take military action against Gaza arms smuggling

By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent


Tags: Gaza arms smuggling

Public Security Minister Avi Dichter urged the government to operate against the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip using the same military techniques employed against rocket fire itself.

"Egyptian action is too slow and the government must set an appropriate policy for the Israel Defense Forces," he told ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

According to Dichter, arms smuggling remains "Achilles Heel" of the situation in the coastal territory.
"We must not wait until rockets are fired on Yavneh," he said, referring to a central Israel town struck by rockets during the war with Gaza last month.

Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin said Sunday that there have been several instances of arms smuggling from Egypt into Gaza since the end of the war, amid Hamas' efforts to rehabilitate the smuggling tunnels bombed by Israel.

"The Egyptians are acting [against smuggling] pretty slowly," Diskin said. "But there seems to be a positive change."

Militant groups smuggle arms and ammunitions into Gaza through tunnels dug along the border with Egypt and on boats along the coast. Egypt, which has kept its Rafah border crossing with the coastal territory largely closed, has agreed to help stop the tunnel smuggling with international technical assistance.

While Egyptian forces frequently report finding and destroying tunnels on the border with Gaza, the tunnels are usually found empty. Arrests of Palestinians accused of smuggling or caught in the tunnels are rare.

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