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Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin. (Kobi Gideon / BauBau) Last update - 07:18 24/07/2008 Shin Bet head Diskin: Gaza lull is lifeline to Hamas By Amos Harel Tags: Gaza Strip, Shin Bet  Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin believes that the cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip serve the interests of Hamas, not Israel, and charged that by agreeing to the deal Israel has "offered Hamas a lifeline." Speaking before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Tuesday, the security services head argued that Israel's deterrent has "suffered substantially" as a result of events in the past three years - the disengagement from the Gaza strip, the Hamas takeover there and the Second Lebanon War. Diskin said the tahadiyeh - the cease-fire agreement - is stable because all sides have an interest in maintaining it and because Hamas is imposing its will on smaller Palestinian factions in the Strip. Advertisement "The cease-fire gave Hamas a lifeline. We are not attacking them. We eased the blockade on them at a time when they are not committed to stopping their rearmament," Diskin told the committee. "Hamas presents itself as the victor in this confrontation, as having managed to hold out against the Israeli siege. The lull is being presented as an impressive achievement on its part," Diskin said. In return Israel gains a temporary lull, which Diskin said "is essentially an illusion. In our assessment the rocket attacks will resume at some point in the future." The head of the Shin Bet noted that "Israel's situation is very problematic in its struggle against radical Islam. Palestinian daring against Israel has increased since Hamas took over [in the Strip] while Israel's deterrence has suffered a very substantive blow." Diskin briefed the MKs on the improved rockets produced by the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. He said that Islamic Jihad has independently produced rockets with a 19-kilometer range and that Shin Bet had intelligence indicating that military-grade rockets, whose range is longer, have been smuggled into the territory. Some of those rockets, Diskin added, can reach Ashdod, 30 kilometers away. Militant groups in the Gaza Strip have also obtained military-grade mortars from Iran, with a range of approximately nine kilometers, Diskin said. He said there has been no drastic change in Egyptian efforts to prevent arms from being smuggled into the strip. Diskin confirmed, however, that there has been some improvement, but argued that "Egypt accepts the fact that there is smuggling from its territory... [which] is part of the Middle Eastern theater of the absurd. We have asked the Egyptians to deal with the families of smugglers operating in Sinai." Related articles: Shin Bet chief warned of copycat terrorists 3 hours before Jerusalem attack Shin Bet agrees to free prisoners 'with blood on their hands' for Shalit Haaretz probe: Shin Bet count of Gaza civilian deaths is too low Bookmark to del.icio.us   The bigger apple Study shows Tel Aviv is more expensive to live in than New York. When bedbugs bite After 40 years' absence, Israel braces for return of the bedbug.   1.   What Ceasr Fire is He Talking About? 05:37  |  Mark of Lewiston 24/07/08   2.   Israel Is Hoping for a Miracle, A Big Mistake 07:25  |  Dave Levy 24/07/08   3.   No to the ceasefire : Hamas must be crushed. 07:37  |  Jean Van Daem 24/07/08   4.   More Olmert/Livni/Barak Idiocy 07:41  |  Tod Zuckerman 24/07/08   5.   Nonsense! Attend to the root cause, the OCCUPATION!!! 08:29  |  Ivar 24/07/08   6.   The arrogance of power 08:39  |  Johnboy 24/07/08   7.   Sticks and Stones - Dave Levy 09:14  |  Mark of Lewiston 24/07/08   8.   Hamas can`t be crushed. It represents 1500 million 09:39  |  Indonesian 24/07/08   9.   The dead eyes of a killer 10:05  |  Clickfool 24/07/08   10.   #1, Mark of Lewiston 10:15  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 24/07/08   11.   Diskin, the father of terrorism 10:44  |  Ivan 24/07/08   12.   Diskin, the father of terrorism 10:44  |  Ivan 24/07/08   13.   Questions for Jean van Daem # 3 10:46  |  Clickfool 24/07/08   14.   4 Cipora Kohn 10:59  |  Mark of Lewiston 24/07/08   15.   Tell it to the Marines Clickfool 11:07  |  Ramius 24/07/08   16.   Dave 11:27  |  Ramius 24/07/08   17.   One more thing Clickfool 11:41  |  Ramius 24/07/08   18.   All these remarks show again: For Israel it`s not about "peace", 11:46  |  Andreas 24/07/08   19.   Someone get a bicarb for Diskin 12:39  |  Natallie Durson 24/07/08   20.   not zero sum 12:49  |  losman 24/07/08   21.   Diskin is right. THIS cease-fire ...... 13:17  |  Dagma 24/07/08   22.   This Next War....... 13:22  |  Dolly 24/07/08   23.   #5 A remarkably incomplete comparison, Cipora 15:04  |  Johnboy 24/07/08   24.   keeping hamass alive, to split PALS and keep the at each others t 15:19  |  jewish doctor 24/07/08   25.   For Ramius # 10 15:59  |  Clickfool 24/07/08   26.   For Ramius, again # 12 16:04  |  Clickfool 24/07/08   27.   Gaza like West Bank 16:05  |  utagawa 24/07/08   28.   Oldemerde legacy:GAZ LEB Hamass 16:15  |  dav zee 24/07/08   29.   Clickfool 16:28  |  Ramius 24/07/08   30.   Clickfool still fighting the last war 16:45  |  Ramius 24/07/08   31.   gaza hiroshima 18:46  |  gaza hiroshima 24/07/08   32.   Mark of Lewiston 20:22  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 24/07/08   33.   #30 One lesson from that last war, Ramius 07:51  |  Johnboy 25/07/08

Read & React Obama to PM: Iran action legitimate only if talks fail Responses: 62 Shmuel Rosner: The U.S. is not the president of Israel Responses: 25 Shin Bet head Diskin: Truce with Hamas unlikely to hold Responses: 25 Tali Fahima: Zakariya Zubeidi is the Shin Bet's whore Responses: 33 Rosner's Domain Barack Obama, the fashionable darling of the Israeli left The Lebanese are undercutting goodwill in Washington (WTR) Is Jimmy Carter 'tone-deaf' to Jewish sensibilities? (WTR) Will Lebanon pay the price for the prisoner swap deal? More Headlines 12:02 Report: Iran convoy attacked while taking arms to Hezbollah 09:40 Obama to PM: Iran action legitimate only if talks fail 07:24 Matters of Deterrence / Shin Bet head Diskin: Cease-fire with Hamas unlikely to hold 10:38 Rice: Peace deal possible by 2009, but talks should be covert 10:56 IDF commander: We must deal with settler 'provocateurs' 11:12 FAA finds serious flaws in flight safety at Israeli airports 02:31 When it comes to psychometric exam, Haredi Jews do it better 08:01 U.S. protests eviction of Arab family from East Jerusalem home 00:47 Tali Fahima: Zakariya Zubeidi is Israeli security service's whore 10:08 Palestinian killed as bomb explodes outside Christian cafe in Gaza 05:49 Scientist tells Israelis: Hang up your cell phones already 08:10 AG Mazuz: Olmert obstructing graft probes against him 22:27 Settler holds knife to IDF soldier's throat in West Bank riot 11:03 Defense officials: Crackdown on Hamas civilian projects unjustified Previous Editions Select Day 24 jul 23 jul 22 jul 21 jul 20 jul 18 jul 17 jul 16 jul 15 jul 14 jul 13 jul 11 jul

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