JERUSALEM — The Israel Security Agency has determined that Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-sponsored insurgency, has imposed
control over large parts of the northern West Bank. The agency concluded
that Jihad has been operating in areas evacuated by the Israel Army in
September 2005.
"The area of northern Samaria has become Jihad land," ISA director Yuval
Diskin said.
On Tuesday, Diskin told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense
Committee that Jihad has used the northern West Bank for arms smuggling,
training and the production of rockets. Diskin said Jihad increased its
activity in wake of the Israeli withdrawal from the area in 2005 and the
dismantling of four Jewish communities, Middle East Newsline reported.
"I'd like to remind the panel that we opposed the withdrawal," Diskin
said.
Officials said Jihad has become the leading insurgency group in the
northern West Bank. They said Iran and Hizbullah have poured millions of
dollars for an infrastructure to abduct Israelis and send suicide bombers
into the Jewish state.
The Israeli withdrawal from the northern West Bank has also damaged the
intelligence capability of the ISA and military, officials said. Diskin said
Israel's presence in the area has been virtually nil.
The ISA has expressed opposition to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan
for a unilateral withdrawal from 97 percent of the West Bank. In August,
Olmert said he was suspending the plan to focus on rebuilding northern
Israel in the aftermath of Hizbullah rocket strikes.
Diskin said Jihad and other Palestinian insurgency groups have sought to
follow Hizbullah's model in southern Lebanon. He said Palestinian insurgents
have focused on smuggling rockets and missiles from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula
to the Gaza Strip.
Over the last few months, Diskin said, the Palestinians smuggled 15,000
rifles, 2,300 pistols, 15 tons of TNT, four million munitions rounds, 15
Grad BM-21 rockets, 400 rocket-propelled grenades, 65 anti-tank missiles and
dozens of anti-aircraft missiles. He said Jihad and other groups have sought
to transfer weapons and plans from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank.
"At this point, anybody who wants to smuggle something through the
Philadelphi route [Egypt-Gaza border] can apparently do so," Diskin said.
"You can smuggle anything through Philadelphi except maybe a tank or plane."
