PA SMUGGLES SA-7s FROM EGYPT
Last Updated: 03/28/2005 10:29:49 Middle East:
JERUSALEM [MENL] -- Israel's military has determined that the Palestinian Authority has smuggled surface-to-air missiles from Egypt.
Israeli officials said Soviet-origin SA-7 missiles were smuggled from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula to the Gaza Strip over the last few days. They said the missiles were ordered by PA officials and their delivery to the Gaza Strip was facilitated by elements within the PA and Egyptian security forces.
On Sunday, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said the SA-7 Strella was transferred from Egypt to the Gaza Strip through any one of 18 tunnels that connect the divided city of Rafah. Mofaz said PA intelligence helped relay the missiles, but did not elaborate.
"Last week, several Strellas were smuggled in by Palestinian military intelligence," Mofaz told the Cabinet. "If the Palestinians don't get seize the Strellas, we will."
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Palestinian Authority Smuggles Soviet Missiles From Egypt To Gaza Strip:
Source: Worldtribune.com
JERUSALEM - Israel's military has learned that the Palestinian Authority has smuggled surface-to-air missiles from Egypt.
Israeli officials said Soviet-origin SA-7 missiles were smuggled from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula to the Gaza Strip over the last few days. They said the missiles were ordered by PA officials and their delivery to the Gaza Strip was facilitated by elements within the PA and Egyptian security forces.
On Sunday, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said the SA-7 Strella was transferred from Egypt to the Gaza Strip through any one of 18 tunnels that connect the divided city of Rafah, Middle East Newsline reported. Mofaz said PA intelligence helped relay the missiles, but did not elaborate.
"Last week, several Strellas were smuggled in by Palestinian military intelligence," Mofaz told the Cabinet. "If the Palestinians don't seize the Strellas, we will."
[On Monday, Israeli authorities announced the capture of an Iranian-sponsored Islamic Jihad cell that sought to manufacture rockets in the West Bank city of Jenin. In February, Israeli troops captured a Hamas cell that tested Kassam-class short-range missiles in the northern West Bank.]
The Israeli military has often asserted that PA security agencies were facilitating the smuggling of weapons from Egypt to the Gaza Strip. But Mofaz's assertion was the first that accused the PA of direct involvement in the smuggling of anti-aircraft missiles. PA military intelligence has been headed by Mussa Arafat, the nephew of the late PA Chairman Yasser Arafat and an interlocutor of Israel's military.
Officials said Israeli authorities were not certain how many SA-7s were brought into the Gaza Strip. They said the PA or elements within the authority have been ordering the missiles from Egyptian smugglers.
In February, the Israeli military disclosed that at least five SA-7 missiles were smuggled into the Gaza Strip from the neighboring Sinai Peninsula. The military said the missiles were transferred to insurgency groups under the protection of the PA.
In his briefing to the Cabinet, Mofaz also reported increased violations of the ceasefire declared by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in February. The violations were said to have included mortar and rocket attacks on Israeli communities in the Gaza Strip.
"Recently there has been a sharp increase in the number of mortar attacks in the Gaza Strip," a Cabinet statement said. "Thus, the PA must act with greater vigor against the terrorist organizations. The defense minister has passed sharp messages to this effect to senior PA officials on more than one occasion, including in recent days."
Israel has approved a plan for the introduction of 750 Egyptian police commandos along the eight-kilometer Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip. In his Cabinet briefing, Mofaz said the smuggling of the missiles would not torpedo the plan for an increased Egyptian security presence.
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