[Ha'aretz] Gideon Alon - The Palestinians are taking advantage of the restraint demonstrated by the Israel Defense Forces to bolster their arms and improve the range of their rocket fire, Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) Director Yuval Diskin told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Tuesday. He said Hamas was sending hundreds of men to Iran for prolonged periods of advanced training, and that 31 tons of explosive material had been smuggled into Gaza in the last year by terror groups, a six-fold increase. Palestinian terror groups are attempting to increase their rocket range to strike Kiryat Gat and Ashkelon; Islamic Jihad succeeded in launching a Grad rocket some 16 kilometers last July. In the West Bank, both the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades of Fatah and Islamic Jihad aspire to be the first to launch rockets into Israel. Diskin said the Palestinians have employed improved roadside bombs, some capable of penetrating armored vehicles.
2007-03-14 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive