TEL AVIV — An Israelis military report said Palestinian insurgency groups
have obtained the technology to extend the range of their missiles to up to
40 kilometers.
Israeli officials said a review by the military and Israel Security
Agency asserted that Hamas and Islamic Jihad have acquired technology
and expertise from Iran and Hizbullah to extend the Kassam-class missile to
40 kilometers. They said the two groups have already succeeded in extending
the range of their missiles to about 14 kilometers.
Officials said the increase in Palestinian missile capability was
achieved in wake of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in September
2005, Middle East Newsline reported. They said that over the last four months, Hizbullah has sent scores of
Palestinians trained in missile and rocket development to the Gaza Strip.
"Over the last few months, there has been a significant leap in
Palestinian rocket development," an official said. "It's safe to say that
they have achieved a breakthrough, although we have not seen its full extent
yet."
[On Thursday, the London-based Al Hayat reported that four Palestinians
captured on Jan. 7 while trying to leave the Lebanese city of Tripoli aboard
a boat full of weapons were members of an Al Qaida group that sought to
attack Israel. The newspaper quoted Lebanese sources as saying that the four
detainees were members of Usbat Al Ansar and had planned to attack an
Israeli installation from the Mediterranean Sea.]
These Palestinians, trained in a range of Soviet-origin rockets, have
served as advisers for Hamas and Jihad missile and rocket programs and
resolved such problems as propellant, navigation and structure, officials
said. They said the advisers returned to the Gaza Strip via Egypt, often
with components required for missile enhancement.
Officials said that neither Egypt nor the Palestinian Authority has
halted the infiltration of advisers and smuggling of missile components.
They said Palestinian weapons smuggling has benefited from cooperation from
both Egyptian and PA border officers.
"Egyptians and Palestinians need to make every possible effort in order
to reduce the phenomenon until it entirely ends," Defense Minister Shaul
Mofaz said on Wednesday.
On Jan. 10, NSA director Yuval Diskin told the Knesset Foreign Affairs
and Defense Committee that Palestinian weapons smuggling from Egypt has
risen drastically since the Israeli withdrawal. He said the influx of
weapons from Sinai to the Gaza Strip has risen 10-fold.
At the same time, Diskin said, Palestinan insurgency groups have
acquired the expertise to significantly increase the range of their missiles
by mid-2006. He said the Kassam missiles produced in the Gaza Strip have a
range of between 10 and 40 kilometers and insurgency groups have sought to
transfer expertise and development to the West Bank.
"If the Palestinians are to receive technology assistance outside of
Gaza, it would only take a number of months for the terror groups to succeed
in significantly improving their rocket range," Diskin said. "There are
efforts to establish independent systems to manufacture weapons, including
Kassams [in the West Bank]."
