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Sinai Peacekeeping Commander Warns of Gaza Weapons Smuggling

(Ha'aretz) Gili Cohen - U.S. Maj. Gen. Warren James Whiting, commander of the Multinational Force and Observers in Sinai, told a conference of the Evans Program for Conflict Resolution of Tel Aviv University on Monday that advanced Russian-made SA-24 shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles, which were sold to Libya in 2004, were being smuggled into Gaza through Egypt. Whiting related that in October 2011 an Iranian-made Fajr-5 missile landed 26 km. southwest of the MFO's northern base, in Al-Jura. He said it may have been fired by militants to test its range. The head of the Israel Security Agency, Yoram Cohen, told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Wednesday that Libya was "a new gate to hell," in part because of the large number of missiles and RPGs being smuggled out of that country and into Gaza, flooding the territory with advanced weapons. Whiting added that attacks on the MFO have escalated over the past year. So far this year there have been 187 incidents of live fire and 37 incidents of stone-throwing directed at his troops. In 2011, 344 live-fire incidents were recorded, while in 2010 there were only 38 such incidents.
2012-06-01 00:00:00
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