(Ha'aretz) Amos Harel - The IDF found plans were afoot to smuggle a large shipment of arms from Egypt to Gaza, via the Rafah tunnels. The information was relayed to the PA and members of their security service were sent to the neighborhood where Fatah members were waiting for the shipment, but they were quickly sent packing by members of the local clan. In the northern Gaza Strip, Hamas declares a "closed military zone" every time it tries to fire a rocket, preventing PA forces from entering the area. Israel sends periodic warnings to the PA, saying that if they don't manage to clamp down on terror, and fast, Israel will halt the diplomatic process and may even weigh an aggressive response against the PA. But the truth, as sources in the General Staff admit, is that "the quiet is intoxicating and misleading." As long as there is quiet, therefore, and no local incidents get out of control, it is in no one's interest for the hudna to be broken.
2003-08-04 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive