Last update - 00:00 22/02/2007
IDF denies troops entered Gaza in search of smuggling tunnels
By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press
The Israel Defense Forces denied a Palestinian report early Thursday that IDF troops entered the southern Gaza Strip searching for smuggling tunnels.
Palestinian security officials said the IDF forces were operating close to the border, and there were no clashes with Palestinians.
Such cross-border operations have been rare since a December cease-fire, but Israel has been warning that Palestinian militants are continuing to dig tunnels from Gaza under the borders. They are used to smuggle weapons from Egypt and to launch attacks on Israel.
Last June, militants who tunneled from Gaza into Israel attacked an army post, killing two IDF soldiers and capturing corporal Gilad Shalit.
Recently, Hamas and other Palestinian paramilitary groups have stepped up their efforts to acquire more advanced anti-tank weaponry.
This stems, in part, from the relative success of Hezbollah guerrillas armed with anti-tank missiles against infantry and armored units of the Israel Defense Forces during last summer's second Lebanon war.
The IDF fears Hamas has succeeded in its efforts to smuggle Sagger-type missiles from Sinai to the Gaza Strip.
It appears that the number of missiles is especially large. However, the mere fact that such a weapon may be in Hamas' hands will affect the way IDF vehicles operate in the Gaza Strip, if it is decided to embark on an extensive offensive operation.
Meanwhile, undercover Border Police troops killed an Islamic Jihad commander in the West Bank town of Jenin on Wednesday, one day after a suicide bombing attempt he allegedly ordered was thwarted in Tel Aviv.
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