TEL AVIV — Israel has found advanced military equipment in Hamas
strongholds in the Gaza Strip.
Officials said Israeli military units in the northern Gaza Strip have
found advanced infrared rifle sights and night-vision goggles in the homes
of Hamas operatives. They said the night-vision equipment were similar to
those used by Hizbullah during the war with Israel in July and August 2006.
"Forces uncovered large amounts of weaponry in one of the buildings,
including rifles, ammunition and night-vision equipment," an Israeli
military statement said on Thursday. "The three Palestinians hiding the
weaponry in their house were arrested and taken for questioning."
Officials did not identify the infrared sights. Those used by Hizbullah
in Lebanon were said to have been manufactured in Britain and exported to
Iran in 2004 and 2005.
"It's clear that Iran and Hizbullah plan on giving the Palestinians
advanced equipment used in the war [in Lebanon]," an official said.
Maj. Gen. Yoav Gallant, the head of the military's Southern Command,
said Hamas plans to establish missile and anti-tank units in wake of the
Hizbullah war with Israel. Gallant told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and
Defense Committee that Hamas would soon be capable of organizing a
division-sized military force.
"Hamas is establishing an organized division with anti-tank capabilities
and with missiles that could reach threatening distances," Galant said on
Oct. 31. "It is reasonable to assume that, in the future, Hamas will deploy
a force of thousands of terrorists, organized and well armed with weapons
systems and night-vision systems, which will form a division."
On Wednesday, Israeli troops, backed by main battle tanks and attack
helicopters, operated around the northern Gaza town of Bet Hanoun. At least
13 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed in house-to-house
fighting amid an Israeli government decision to limit the operation. Hamas
responded by firing three Kassam-class, short-range missiles into Israel on
Thursday.
In a related development, Defense Minister Amir Peretz approved a U.S.
proposal for the transfer of 5,000 assault rifles to the Presidential Guard.
The 3,500-member force was said to be loyal to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
The proposal, promoted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
envisioned a reinforced Presidential Guard as battling Hamas troops in the
Gaza Strip. Ms. Rice also wants Israel to allow the transfer of at least
2,000 Fatah-aligned troops from neighboring Jordan to the West Bank and Gaza
Strip to counter the rise of Hamas's military.
