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.