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Israel to allow Egypt to boost force on Gaza border to fight smuggling
By Barak Ravid and Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondents
Tags: Hamas, Israel News, Egypt 

Israel has taken a favorable view of an Egyptian request to increase the force of its border guards along the Philadelphi Route by at least 750 - and possibly as much as 1,500 - according to a senior Israeli political source.

Meanwhile, the head of the political-security bureau at the Defense Ministry, Amos Gilad, discussed the matter of expanding the Egyptian border force with Omar Suleiman, head of the Egypt's intelligence, in Cairo last night.

In Rafah, residents told Haaretz that the Egyptians had deployed 1,200 regulars whose mission is to secure the border and prevent smuggling.
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The senior Israeli political source said that Gilad had also updated Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as well as Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak on his talks with Suleiman. The source added that even though it is not clear what the precise number of additional soldiers to be deployed will be, Israel will agree to a larger force.

It is also unclear whether the broadening of the Egyptian border force will become part of the Israeli-Egyptian peace accords, or whether it will be a tacit agreement between the two. If the agreement is to be anchored in a written deal, the cabinet and the Knesset will need to approve it because it will alter the peace agreement of 1979.

"Increasing the Egyptian force will not constitute an obstacle to the understandings between the two countries on the issue of smuggling," a political source said yesterday in Jerusalem. "This is not what will make this deal fail."

Regarding possible numbers of Egyptian troops, the senior political source said that currently there are 750 troops along the border and Egypt had asked to double that number in the past. However, now tripling the force is being considered, raising the number to 2,250, and enabling 750 soldiers to patrol in three shifts 24 hours a day.

The issue of expanding the Egyptian force had been at the crux of a loud debate between the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry. Following the breach of the Rafah crossing by Hamas in January 2008, a cabinet meeting was held at which time officials of the Foreign Ministry recommended that Egypt's proposal for a larger force should be accepted.

The Defense Ministry, and particularly Amos Gilad, opposed the Egyptian request, and the matter was tabled.

However, following Operation Cast Lead and the understandings reached between Israel and Egypt to stop smuggling, it appears that there has been a change of heart at the Defense Ministry on the matter.

Yesterday there were reports that Egypt had deployed regular troops - as opposed to border guards - along the border with the Gaza Strip near Rafah, even though there are clauses in the peace agreement with Israel that prevent large numbers of regular army troops so close to the border with Israel.

The deployment of the troops, along with a small number of armored personnel carriers, appears to be an effort to prevent Hamas from breaching the border wall like it has done in the past.

Local residents in Rafah told Haaretz that the new Egyptian force numbers about 1,200 men, mostly stationed in Rafah, a few kilometers from the border. Entrances to Rafah are blocked by Egyptian police from the unit charged with public order and whose main task is to prevent non-residents from entering the town. In the town itself army vehicles are a common sight and roadblocks have been set up in roads and alleys leading to the border fence.


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      1.   Brave Egypt 04:05  |  Lynn 23/01/09
      2.   Egypt needs money 05:17  |  Ali 23/01/09
      3.   Tacit approval? Ignoring peace treaty & Knesset? Rule of law? 05:53  |  Felafelhead 23/01/09
      4.   The fox guards the chickens 06:02  |  judith 23/01/09
      5.   Force Boost 06:34  |  Jasper 23/01/09
      6.   An effort must be made ... but... 09:43  |  Natallie Durson 23/01/09
      7.   The coming fall of the Egyptian Military Dictatorship 10:50  |  Clickfool 23/01/09
      8.   big mistake: the real problem are Egyptians 15:24  |  robert 23/01/09
      9.   # 3 felafelhead 15:26  |  Axel 23/01/09
      10.   #7 Clickfool 15:28  |  John Allen 23/01/09
      11.   and what about Egyptian participation in smuggling? 15:33  |  Avi 23/01/09
      12.   Ali of Albany (NY?) 15:43  |  Akiva P 23/01/09
      13.   Natallie Durson of Los Angeles 15:49  |  Akiva P 23/01/09
      14.   true, Egypt should end its Gaza siege 15:50  |  Nadav 23/01/09
      15.   Missile Buy-Back Program! (worked in NYC) 15:51  |  Fred McCann 23/01/09
      16.   Reward Egyptian Soldiers who foil Arms smugling 16:03  |  Sumner Stone 23/01/09
      17.   Insane to reward Egypt`s treaty violations with MORE violations 16:48  |  Dr. L. Brnd 23/01/09
      18.   Egypt is Israel`s greatest enemy. Building their war machine. 17:14  |  James a Gentile 23/01/09
      19.   and when the ruthless dictator goes to his final reword? 17:38  |  guess again 23/01/09
      20.   Natallie Durson # 6 There`s A Big Difference 17:38  |  Jeff Northridge 23/01/09
      21.   # 3 felafelhead 18:13  |  Axel 23/01/09
      22.   So did Israel withraw from Gaza or not? 18:40  |  Bob 23/01/09
      23.   Israel should blow up the egypt crossing, warn gazans to leave, 19:17  |  Jeff 23/01/09
      24.   Tunnels?....They are an underground border crossing, thats it. 19:26  |  Tamir Palestine 23/01/09
      25.   to #15 20:02  |  Henry 23/01/09
      26.   Ali from Albany 20:30  |  ZISD 23/01/09
      27.   Israel allows Egypt 20:46  |  American Patriot 23/01/09
      28.   it is really double standards 20:48  |  Antonio da Silva 23/01/09
      29.   The Easy way 00:21  |  Stephen Rost 24/01/09
      30.   Clickfool (# 7). This, too, of course, is Israel`s fault. Part I 00:22  |  flyingdoc57 24/01/09
      31.   Tamir Palestine # 16 Ha, Ha, Nice Try! 00:35  |  Jeff Northridge 24/01/09
      32.   Build Moat 01:02  |  Baruch Gold 24/01/09
      33.   Sinai was not liberated 01:04  |  abu ismail sami 24/01/09
      34.   abu ismail sami 06:05  |  Sean 24/01/09
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