TEL AVIV Ñ The Palestinian Authority has taken over the production
and distribution of weapons in much of the Gaza Strip, according to documents captured by Israeli forces.
Israeli defense officials said the PA Preventive Security Apparatus has
assumed responsibility for a network of factories and assembly lines in residential areas around
Gaza City that produces everything from rocket-propelled grenades to
short-range surface-to-surface missiles.
For nearly two years, Israeli military intelligence had asserted that
the PA had a marginal role in weapons production, Middle East Newsline reported. Intelligence sources had
said the assembly of rockets and mortars were largely the work of
independent contractors who were hired by Fatah or Hamas.
But over the last few weeks that assessment has changed, officials said.
The Israelis have now concluded that the PA has taken over the arms industry
in most of the Gaza Strip, particularly around Gaza City. The Preventive
Security Apparatus ensures the flow of weapons and distributes them to
insurgency groups in accordance with guidelines from PA Chairman Yasser
Arafat and his aides. The weapons production is conducted in residential
areas in Gaza City.
Officials and Israeli military commanders have released details of the
PA weapons industry in wake of the capture of a PPS facility south of Gaza
City. On early Monday, a force of about 35 tanks and armored personnel
carriers raided the facility at Tel Al Hawa and captured a range of weapons
and documents on the PA's role in weapons production.
The Tel Al Hawa facility was also said to have produced and assembled
such weapons as mortars, explosives, grenades and anti tank missiles. The
PPS effort was said to have been overseen by ordance officer Talal Muhseen,
50.
The capture of the PPS facility at Tel Al Hawa resulted in the seizure
of hundreds of mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, Kassam short-range
missiles and the Al Bana anti-tank rocket. Israeli troops also found what
officials described as a makeshift artillery piece, the first such attempt
by the Palestinian weapons industry. The documents captured included
intelligence information on Israeli military and civilian targets in the
Gaza Strip.
"There's no doubt that over past two years, people in the organization
were engaged in manufacturing and distributing weaponry and even actively
participated in terror attacks along with the Islamic Jihad and the Hamas,"
Brig. Gen. Yisrael Ziv, commander of Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, said.
The PPS is headed by Col. Rashid Abu Shback, who replaced agency chief
Mohammed Dahlan in July. But Dahlan is said to still heavily influence the
organization and often meets Abu Shback.
Officials said the new assessment of the PA weapons industry was
concluded after the arrest of an officer in the agency, Yusef Muqadid.
Muqadid was captured in an Israeli commando operation in Gaza City on Nov.
14.
"We had some information, but after the Muqadid interrogation we
obtained the entire picture," an official said.
