http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3659500,00.html
Hamas fires 8 mortar shells
“Terrorists testing Israel: Mortar shells launched from central Gaza, land in Palestinian areas”
Hanan Greenberg
Published: 01.20.09, 20:27 / Israel News
SNIPPET: “Shaky ceasefire in Gaza: Palestinian terrorists fired eight mortar shells from the central Gaza Strip Tuesday, the army said. However, it appears all shells landed in Palestinian areas, possibly due to a malfunction.
In one case, the Air Force spotted a mortar near a refugee camp and targeted it.
IDF officials are closely monitoring developments in the Strip and estimate that the shells were fired by Hamas and other terrorist groups that are attempting to “generate” several terror attacks daily.
Army sources told Ynet that terrorists resorted to mortar fire, rather than a more potent attack, as not to prompt a harsh IDF response, while still maintaining a certain level of terror activity. The IDF said that the mortar attacks constitute a violation of the Gaza ceasefire and that the army will convey an unequivocal message to Hamas that such attacks are unacceptable and would not be disregarded.”
Thanks to Jet Jaguar for starting this thread.
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2169362/posts
Sources: Hamas arms smuggling never stopped during IDF op in Gaza
haarezt ^ | 22/01/2009 | Anshel Pfeffer and Barak Ravid,
Posted on January 22, 2009 12:08:01 AM PST by Jet Jaguar
Although the Israeli air force bombed the Phildelphi corridor along the border thousands of times during the course of the Cast Lead campaign, smugglers acknowledge that some tunnels running under the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip have remained in use, and were in operation even during the fighting. Contrary to media reports, the Israeli air force apparently did not use more powerful bunker-busting bombs to destroy the tunnels, rather than regular explosives. Tunnels lined with wood reinforcement have been especially resistant to air force bombing raids.
Smugglers manage to transfer merchandise, drugs and weapons through tunnels dug under the Philadelphi corridor. According to residents of Rafah, the reinforced tunnels were even used during the Israeli military offensive to smuggle in a group of German doctors who wanted to provide medical care to Gaza residents. In addition to Palestinian smugglers, Bedouin from Sinai are also involved in the trade through the tunnels.
One of the Bedouin in the area insists that the smuggling will continue because they have no other way to earn a living. The Egyptian police operating in the area periodically blow up the Palestinian-built tunnels when they become aware of them, but they reportedly turn a blind eye to Bedouin subterranean smuggling routes.
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...