Shin Bet chief: Hamas using calm to build up strength

Shin Bet chief: Hamas using calm to build up strength

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3361315,00.html

Shin Bet chief says group interested in maintaining calm to smuggle arms into Gaza, showing no signs of compromise regarding its anti-Israel positions. 'We failed to come up with solution for Qassam attacks,' he adds

 

Hanan Greenberg Published:  02.05.07, 19:35

Hamas continues to show no sign on compromise regarding its positions against Israel and is interested in maintaining the calm to build up its strength – particularly by smuggling weapons into Gaza from Egypt, said Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin at a special press briefing on Monday.

 

He also warned that the Sinai region – where last week's suicide bomber passed through on his way to Eilat - has become a large-scale "weapons cache," maintaining a steady flow of supplies from different countries around the world. Diskin said the region now constitutes an "underbelly" to Israel's security in the long run.

He added that terror organizations continue to develop a massive tunnel infrastructure in Gaza, smuggling in an estimated 28 tons of standard-grade explosives into the Strip in 2006, this compared with an estimated 6 tons in 2005.

 

 The weaponry shopping list for 2006 included 14,000 assault rifles (9,300 in 2005), some 5 million armament accessories (2 million in 2005), 150 RPG rockets, 65 grenade launchers, ten upgraded anti-tank missiles and ten anti-aircraft missiles

 

"Terror organizations are digging tunnels from Gaza towards Israel with the intention of carrying out attacks against IDF forces in the communities adjacent to the border," said Diskin. "At the moment there are at least 10 tunnels being dug, in varying stages of progress."

 

Diskin also noted the use terror groups make of Egypt, saying that 43 terrorists were arrested after trying to enter Israel unlawfully, having left Gaza for Egypt with the intention of entering Israel through Egypt.

 

'They will prefer to kill their captive'

 

He admitted that Israel's security forces failed to come up with a solution for the incessant Qassam attacks on the south. "An operation in Gaza will not bring the Qassam attacks to an end," he said.

A documented 1,726 rockets fell inside Israel in 2006, compared to 401 in 2005.

 

The Shin Bet chief stated that 279 potential suicide bombers were arrested in the West Bank over the course of 2006, an almost 80 percent increase from last year's 154 potential bombers. The figures show that motivation towards carrying out terror attacks is still high, even if terror activity in the region appears to have gradually calmed.

 

Diskin said the Shin Bet had had failed in determining kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit's whereabouts, but added that information obtained by the Shin Bet indicates that he is "alive, well and in good condition."

 

Diskin also touched the subject of kidnappings in the West Bank.

 

"The working premise is that when a kidnapping like this takes place, they will prefer to kill their captive, bury his body and then negotiate. This is the soft underbelly of Israel and therefore it is extremely important that soldiers and civilians be aware of the situation," he said.

Of the last war in Lebanon and its repercussions in the territories Diskin said that the war had damaged Israel's deterrent capabilities.

There is a recorded 150 percent increase in the number of terror groups being guided by Hizbullah over the course of the first half of 2006, he said. 

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Hamas digging tunnels for next battle

Movement takes advantage of PA infighting to reorganize, lay new infrastructure and collect improved weapons for next battle with IDF. Palestinian unity government bad news for Israel, whose hands are tied

Ron Ben-Yishai Published: 02.05.07, 15:41

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3361228,00.html

While Gaza gun battles continue with full-force, Hamas has quickly been setting up its new military infrastructure for a serious confrontation with the Israel Defense Forces.

Israel has been following the construction with concern, but its hands are tied, if the IDF were to act against Hamas' infrastructure, it would be interpreted throughout the world as Israeli intervention on behalf of Fatah.

Hamas and its Iranian supporters have been taking advantage of this fact and have been sending members of Hamas' "operational force" to the streets to enforce Hamas' power.

A few thousand of these men have been fighting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' security forces.

In the meantime, Hamas's military wing, the Izz ad-Din el-Qasam Brigades, and Hamas' Murabitun militia have been laying down new military infrastructures.

The work is being done in an organized, systematic manner on three levels: Digging combat tunnels, improving rocket performance and quantity, and collecting weapons, mainly antitank and antiaircraft missiles through smuggling.

The most complicated part of the reorganization is the combat tunnels, which are very similar to Hizbullah's "nature reserves" in southern Lebanon .

Unlike the latter however, which were mainly under-ground local bunkers that allowed Hizbullah fighters to launch Katyusha rockets and take cover from Israel Air Force bombings, the Gaza tunnel network will allow Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters to carry out the combat from within.

The Gaza tunnels will allow mobility under ground to the expected points of battle with IDF forces entering the Strip, the fighters will be able to surface quickly, launch missiles or rockets and disappear only to surprise the IDF forces at another spot.

The tunnels are also meant to serve another purpose, namely to plant explosive devices at IDF entrance points, in order to detonate them and stop IDF forces from entering.

The tunnels uncovered by Palestinian security forces near the Erez crossing two weeks ago were meant for this purpose.

Fatah members rushed to announce that these tunnels were dug in order to assassinate President Abas and other Fatah officials, but it is more likely that these tunnels were meant for underground fighting between Hamas and the IDF.

The tunnels are also meant to be used for infiltrating Israeli territory. The composition of the earth in the Strip makes digging easy, and allows for relatively stable tunnels. These tunnels give Hamas a real strategic advantage.