The Wire: Times profiles weapons-smuggling to Gaza

Just Journalism
The Wire
Thurs. 21 Apr. 2011 @ 14.25 –

http://justjournalism.com/the-wire/times-highlights-weapons-smuggling-to-gaza/

Report from Sinai reveals how collapse of Mubarak regime has boosted influx of high-tech weaponry to Gaza.

Today’s Times reports on how the popular uprising in Egypt, which resulted in the ousting of President Mubarak, has led to a dramatic increase in smuggling into Gaza. Sheera Frenkel’s, ‘Fall of Mubarak proves a boom for arms smugglers’, describes how, for smugglers in Sinai, ‘business is booming’:

‘Unburdened by the security presence that the Egyptian military once maintained here, moving contraband has become a lot easier.’

The article describes how, since the fall of the regime, the east coast of Egypt has been ‘largely unmanned’, with residents of Arish, a town close to the Rafah border with Gaza, stating that soldiers had ‘almost completely abandoned the checkpoints.’ A smuggler explains how gun-runners can now operate with almost total impunity:

“Smugglers have always got things across, they use back roads, they know the ways. Now they can take the main roads.”

While Gaza is now so awash with basic weaponry that Palestinians were alleged to have been moving rifles out of, rather than into, the region, Israel’s primary concern is the influx of more high-tech weaponry. An Israeli intelligence officer is quoted, explaining:

“They may not need any more basic guns, but they can use anti-tank missiles, rocket guidance systems and more…These are the weapons coming to Gaza from their friends in the Arab world. We need to stop them while they are still within our reaches.”

The claims of more sophisticated arms reaching Gaza from further afield are bolstered by another smuggler:

‘From the back of a vehicle on a rough road in Sinai, Abu Islam shows off the new numbers on his phone. The codes show contacts in Sudan, Jordan and Russia — or what he refers to as his “newly expanded global clientele”.’

Hamas has already begun targeting civilians with these new weapons. Earlier this month, Just Journalism reported on how the rocket that struck an Israeli schoolbus, resulting in the death of 16-year old Daniel Viflic, was a laser-guided ‘Kornet’ missile:

‘An Israeli security source confirmed today that the Kornet, which uses a laser guidance system and can be operated by night or day, is ‘among the most sophisticated anti-tank missiles’ in existence. It carries a range of up to 5 kilometers, one of the longest ranges for this type of weapon.’

Despite the vehicle clearly being designated as a school bus, the attack was claimed by the Al-Qassam Brigades – the official military wing of Hamas:

‘Gaza-Ezzedeen Al Qassam Brigades (E.Q.B) the military wing of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas declared in a military communiqué released on Thursday April 7, 201l the full responsibility for the operation of targeting Israeli bus traveling in the nearby Israeli settlement of Kfar Sa’ad east of Gaza Strip.’

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