The sources said the cell operated a workshop in Sheik Zuwayed outside
Rafah. They said security forces seized the casing of 60 short-range
rockets.
Hamas was not said to have ordered the rockets from the Bedouin
production network. The sources said Hamas appeared to be producing a
sufficient number of Kassam-class, short-range missiles and was focusing on
the acquisition of longer-range weapons from Iran and Hizbullah. On April
10, Hizbullah reported the arrest of one of its operatives in Egypt.
Several Palestinian militias in the Gaza Strip have been engaged in
missile and rocket attacks against Israel. They included the
Iranian-sponsored Islamic Jihad, Popular Resistance Committees and Fatah.
Egyptian security forces have been tracking suspected Bedouin smugglers
and rocket production cells in Sinai. On April 11, police and Bedouins
engaged in a gun battle, and one person was killed near El Arish.
The sources said the shootout came amid a chase of a truck suspected of
transporting weapons to the Gaza Strip. The truck was searched after the
shootout, and security forces found ammunition.
For its part, Hamas has used Egypt to smuggle millions of dollars in
cash from Iran and Gulf Arab states. Egyptian security forces have been
tracking Hamas couriers both in Cairo and Sinai.