Major Hamas Authority Tunnel-Terror Attack Thwarted

A Gaza Strip tunnel intended for a large-scale terror attack has been uncovered near the Karni Crossing, and the IDF is working to collapse it. The threat is still extant.

The IDF reports that in the wake of intricate and ongoing intelligence-gathering activity by both the IDF and General Security Service, security forces succeeded earlier this week in finding a long tunnel dug from within Gaza towards the Karni crossing. Terrorists were apparently planning to carry out a major attack against Israeli personnel at the crossing itself.

The tunnel is a large one, with a 13-meter-deep shaft (42.5 feet) and a 150-meter-long corridor (165 yards). Its entrance to the tunnel was found inside a house in the residential area of Saja'iye, though it is likely to have other tunnels leading to it as well. IDF forces are preparing to collapse the tunnel, probably later today (Wednesday).

The IDF forces have been operating in the Saja'iye area for several days, having killed 13 terrorists and wounding another ten.

Though the Karni Crossing is one of the main lifelines of the Gaza populace, by which merchandise and medical supplies are brought into the area, terrorists continually target it. For this reason, and due to the many security warnings regarding terrorists' intentions to attack there, the army has repeatedly closed and re-opened it over the past months.

"The targeting of Karni by the terror organizations, along with other crossings such as Erez and Kerem Shalom, is a deliberate attempt by terrorists to weaken the Palestinian economy," the IDF announced. "The targeting of these crossings, which are reopened again and again after attacks, is a cynical exploitation of the Israeli effort to ease the daily lives of Palestinian civilians who are not involved in terror activity."

Many more tunnels are assumed to be under construction or completed, and intelligence warnings of tunnels and intended terror attacks stream in all the while. Two tunnels were also recently discovered leading to the Kerem Shalom crossing, apparently intended for use in smuggling arms and ammunition from Egypt into Gaza.

Other Attacks Just ten weeks ago, Corp. Gilad Shalit was kidnapped from his tank, and two soldiers were killed, when eight Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel via a tunnel they dug from Gaza. Soldiers in Shalit's unit participated in finding the tunnel that was discovered this week.

Four months ago, a Hamas-affiliated terror cell attempted to carry out a large-scale attack at Karni, bringing three vehicles to the crossing - one filled with a large amount of explosives, and the other two carrying armed gunmen. The plan was apparently to infiltrate the crossing and blow up an opening in the Israel-Gaza separation barrier, through which the terrorists would cross over to the Israeli side and open fire at civilians and security personnel.

The last Karni attack in which Israelis were killed occurred in January 2005, in a joint Hamas/Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades/Popular Resistance Committees attack. The terrorists bombed the separation wall and infiltrated into the Israeli side, opening fire in all directions and murdering six Israelis and wounding five others.

And, of course, the US weighs in. If only the French or Egyptians or UN were at the crossing instead of the IDF, these things wouldn't happen. And the terror attacks would succeed. The border should be closed, they can trade with Egypt instead of Israel. I know Egypt will be happy to help their Arab brothers

U.S. proposal: Int'l observers, expansion at Karni crossing
IMRA ^ | 8-28-06

[After gross failure at Rafah crossing] U.S. proposal: Int'l observers, expansion at Karni crossing

[IMRA: Reality does not appear to be one of the concerns of United States security coordinator in the territories, General Keith Dayton. Israel Radio reports that the proposal would also include an airport.] U.S. proposal: Int'l observers, expansion at Karni crossing By Avi Issacharoff Haaretz 28 August 2006 www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/755387.html

Israel and the Palestinian Authority have agreed in principle to station international observers at the Karni border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

The idea was proposed by the United States security coordinator in the territories, General Keith Dayton, who presented a detailed proposal last week to PA representatives and to Defense Minister Amir Peretz.

According to Dayton's proposal, a copy of which has been obtained by Haaretz, some 90 international observers would be stationed at Karni, backed by 30 staff assistants. In addition, the terminal - which is the main cargo transit point between Gaza and Israel - would be expanded on both sides of the border.

The observers would be stationed on the Palestinian side of the terminal, and their job would be to ensure that the PA security personnel stationed there do what is necessary to prevent terror attacks in the vicinity. The PA personnel would be drawn mainly from PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' presidential guard, and would receive additional equipment and training in order to improve their performance. Currently, several different PA security services are responsible for security at Karni.

While the observers would be European, like those already stationed at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, American officials would supervise them.

Dayton's plan calls for an investment of some $19 million to train and equip the PA troops and expand the terminal, and he therefore intends to present it at a conference of donor nations that assist the PA, which is slated to take place in Sweden on September 2.

Karni is Gaza's economic lifeline. According to Salim Abu Safiyeh, the PA official in charge of security at Gaza's border crossings, some 200,000 Gazan employees depend on Karni for their livelihood: The raw materials that enter Gaza via Karni are essential to keep dozens of small factories operating, and the same holds for the exports that leave Gaza through this crossing. However, due to repeated threats of terror attacks at the terminal, Israel has frequently shut it down, resulting in a virtual cessation of exports and a sharp reduction in imports of raw materials. That, said Abu Safiyeh, has been a major factor in the collapse of Gaza's economy.

Under Dayton's plan, some 400 trucks a day would leave Gaza through the expanded terminal, up from almost none at present.

While Abbas has agreed to the plan, Palestinian sources warned that there are likely to be some difficulties in implementing it. For instance, they said, the terminal's proposed expansion will require expropriating privately owned Palestinian land, whose owners are currently abroad and therefore difficult to locate.

Similarly, while Israeli security officials also welcomed the plan, terming it an opportunity to both improve Gaza's economy and strengthen Abbas' position in the Palestinian political arena, they warned that Israel will not agree to implement it until Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who was kidnapped to Gaza in June, is released.

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