More Advanced Weapons and Border Control for Hamas!
February 3, 2008
http://www.tribulationperkiod.com/
Although the prophecy of Amos 1:7,8 was fulfilled long ago, a similar situation will occur at Armageddon upon the occupants of Gaza, and its many terrorist groups.
Amos 1:7,8 – But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof: [8] And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord God.
Egypt will reseal the border, bickering will continue, and things will, for a while, get back to what some might call “normal,” but the Hamas has won another skirmish, and gained more esteem in the hearts of jihad enthusiasts across the Middle East, and things will never be quite the same in this narrow zone between Israel and Egypt.
Begin Jerusalem Post Article
Diskin: Gaza breach allowed influx of advanced armament
Herb Keinon, THE JERUSALEM POST
February 3, 2008
Hamas’s breach of the security fence along the Egypt-Gaza border has resulted in the smuggling of a large amount of advanced weaponry, including long-range rockets, anti-tank missiles, and anti-aircraft missiles, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head Yuval Diskin said in his briefing to ministers during Sunday’ s cabinet meeting.
In a sobering assessment of the situation, Diskin said that the breach also allowed dozens of operatives from all of the different terror organizations in Syria, Iran, and Egypt to infiltrate into Gaza. He said that these operatives were likely trained in Iran, and crossed the border with the aim of upgrading terror attacks against Israel.
The Shin Bet chief also talked about the tenuous balance of power between Hamas and Fatah, saying that in recent months it has tipped in Hamas’s favor. Referring to a survey which was conducted at Al-Najah University in Nablus, Diskin said that Hamas now enjoys 16% support amongst the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza combined, up from 13 percent in November, 2007.
Conversely, Fatah’s popularity fell from 44% in November, to 38 percent today.
While Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is interested in taken control of the crossing, Hamas also wants a role in the policing efforts, Diskin said. He explained that the Islamic organization has been bolstered by the euphoria which followed last week’s breach, and now wants a presence at the crossing. He added that Hamas would agree to European Union monitors in the area, so long as they do not live in Israel.
Speaking about the noticeable drop in Kassam rocket attacks in the past week, Diskin warned that it was not due to a change in Hamas policy, but rather a result of the group being distracted by all of the activity surrounding the breach in the security wall.
During the briefing, a number of ministers – including Defense Minister Ehud Barak – called for
the speedy construction of a border fence spanning the Egypt-Israel border. According to Barak, the most important places to begin this construction was near the western Negev community of Nitzana, and around Eilat.
On another matter, Diskin harshly criticized the Palestinian Authority legal system for the way they handled the Hebron Hills murderers. Calling the trial of the two Palestinians who had shot and killed two Israelis in December “a farce,” he expla ined that both were orig
inally sentenced to life in prison, but then given a reduced sentence of 15 years. However, after realizing that that such a sentence might be problematic diplomatically, the court added on another ten years, and claimed that it did so because the convicts had “harmed Palestinian interests.”
Begin DEBKAfile Report
DEBKAfile Reports: Hamas lengthens its border with Israel by 220 km and gains Egyptian de facto recognition
February 3, 2008, 5:32 PM (GMT+02:00)
Yet leading Israeli political and military officials have welcomed the deal Hamas leaders Khaled Meshaal from Damascus and Mahmoud a-Zahar from Gaza pulled off in their Cairo talks, which ended Saturday Feb.
2.
DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report that that far from turning its back on Israel, as official Israeli spokesmen are happily claiming, Hamas and its missile shooters have placed Eilat within range as well as Sderot.
The Egyptian government submitted to the new status quo created by Hamas when it bulldozed the Gaza-Sinai border ten days ago. In effect, Cairo extended de facto recognition to Hamas’ rule of the Gaza Strip and the Ismail Haniya government.
In so doing, the Mubarak government broke away from the international boycott of Hamas rule in Gaza.
A Palestinian state sponsored, armed and backed by Iran and Syria on Israel’s southwestern border drastically worsens Israel’s strategic and military position in regional terms. Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, Israel’ s negotiating partner
s, have been left far beh ind
in the Palestinian power stakes. By failing to step in and halt this dangerous process, Israel has left the West Bank wide open to a Hamas-Jihad Islami takeover.
DEBKAfile’s political sources comment that the Olmert government’s handling of the Gaza crisis in the south is a repeat
of the errors of judgment and missteps committed before and during the 2006 Lebanon War in the north. This government has apparently learned nothing from the catalogue of mistakes brought out in the 629 pages of the Winograd report four days ago.
The deal with Egypt establishes a joint mechanism with Hamas for the Gaza-Sinai border. Gazan Palestinians would continue to move freely across the border and the Rafah terminal would be reopened – from now on manned by armed Hamas officials.
Hamas therefore gained everything it wanted from Cairo on the Gaza-Sinai border and recognition without firing a shot.
In a comment to The Times , Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair said: “Hamas have a clever strategy, which is why I keep saying we need a clever strategy as well, which helps the people, isolates the extremists and points out the fact that if at any point in time the rockets stop, the whole situation will be transformed.”
This comment highlighted the absence of an Israeli strategy for dealing with Hamas’ success in breaking the blockade against its regime and its missile campaign against Israeli citizens. The shooting revived Saturday night at the end of the Cairo talks with four missiles.
Another step decided in Cairo was to integrate token elements of the Palestinian Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah in the new Gazan border arrangements. Accepting the offer would commit Abbas to cooperation with the Hamas rule which ousted his PA from Gaza last summer.
Meshaal and a-Zahar were not averse to restoring a European monitoring presence to Rafah in place of those who fled after the Hamas coup, but they insisted on Russians, maintaining that Moscow, which keeps a mission in Gaza, merited a stronger role in its affairs
If this plan works out, Moscow would win an active role in an issue bound up with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without consultation with Jerusalem.
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