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Last update - 08:41 29/01/2009
IAF commander: Bombing of tunnels not a solution to Gaza arms smuggling
By Anshel Pfeffer
Tags: Hamas, IDF, Gaza, Israel News

Israel Air Force Commander Major General Ido Nehushtan said Wednesday that he doubted the long-term efficacy of Israel's bombing of the tunnels on the Philadelphi Route in southern Gaza. In the first remarks on the outcome of Operation Cast Lead by a member of the Israel Defense Forces General Staff, Nehushtan said he recommended focusing on all means of weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip.

The air force carried out hundreds of sorties around the Philadelphi Route during the Gaza operation, focusing mainly on houses suspected of hiding tunnels. On Tuesday night, following the attack on an army patrol hear Kissufim, the IDF responded by bombing tunnels in that area. Speaking at the Ilan Ramon Annual International Space Conference in Herzliya, Nehushtan attempted to reduce the importance of tunnels for smuggling arms, calling them "merely the spout of the toothpaste tube." Nehushtan said: "If we hit them today, they'll open again tomorrow and they'll be dug in the future, too."

Nehushtan's remarks reveal the frustration of the IDF and the government that the Gaza offensive did not end the weapons smuggling, despite the destruction of the tunnels. The IDF has been highlighting the need to stop the weapons before they reach the tunnels in Sinai or the ships that bring them in from Iran.
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Nehushtan also said there was frustration about the West's failure, through international bodies and diplomacy, to stop the Iranian nuclear program.

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      1.   So open the crossings & Negotiate w/ Hamas 03:59  |  Mickle 29/01/09
      2.   Operation Dead Sea 04:28  |  alcycle 29/01/09
      3.   To Mickle 1 04:43  |  Magnus K. 29/01/09
      4.   Build A Mega Moat 04:51  |  Baruch Gold 29/01/09
      5.   Mickle of SC 05:10  |  Jasper 29/01/09
      6.   #1 06:48  |  James 29/01/09
      7.   Mickle, ask Hamas if they recognize us and get back to me 07:13  |  Dan 29/01/09
      8.   #2, James..."maybe we will"?? 07:16  |  Silvienne 29/01/09
      9.   #1, Mickle..it looks like it... 07:17  |  Silvienne 29/01/09
      10.   Just place troops on Gaza-Egypt border, duh 07:44  |  Meish 29/01/09
      11.   bombing of tunnels, there are other solutions 07:46  |  layman 29/01/09
      12.   Blockade Creates Tunnel Demand 07:52  |  Fred 29/01/09
      13.   The removal of the Hamas regime. 08:19  |  Jean Van Daem 29/01/09
      14.   #1 08:31  |  Michael 29/01/09
      15.   Bombing of tunnels is Part of a solution to Gaza arms smuggling 08:41  |  Joseph.E 29/01/09
      16.   If Israel wants peace, let Israel make peace 09:36  |  Natallie Durson 29/01/09
      17.   Free Shalit 09:46  |  Abdul Qader Mohammed 29/01/09
      18.   $140,000 a bomb 09:48  |  Clickfool 29/01/09
      19.   #1 09:49  |  ashamed 29/01/09
      20.   Did #1 just pop up from an Iranian foxhole? Negotiate with Hamas? 09:49  |  Tim 29/01/09
      21.   I`d like the opinion of Jean van Daem on Mahmoud Abbas # 6 10:06  |  Clickfool 29/01/09
      22.   re 3: Israel couldn`t stop smuggling when it controlled all Gaza 10:24  |  not-a-rabid-zionist 29/01/09
      23.   They Can`t Trench A Canal 10:36  |  Brendan 29/01/09
      24.   Develop sensors and/or occupy borders 10:42  |  Joe 29/01/09
      25.   arrival of weapons to Egypt is the problem 10:46  |  peter 29/01/09
      26.   Tunnel Vision, takes a Layman No8 to find a solution 10:58  |  Harvey 29/01/09
      27.   A Palestinian state 11:18  |  Israeli citizen 29/01/09
      28.   Living in a Fantasy world 11:19  |  Rod 29/01/09
      29.   Stop US arms smuggling to Israel. 11:26  |  Dave 29/01/09
      30.   Al-Jazeera TV, January 22, 2009: "Today,Hamas Gangs Are Unleashed 11:44  |  PETER SM 29/01/09
      31.   An excellent truth 12:18  |  UK 29/01/09
      32.   Dave # 29 Israel Is An Ally Of The U.S. 13:15  |  Jeff Northridge 29/01/09
      33.   Liquidating Settler Enterprise is the only and true solution 13:27  |  Ivar 29/01/09
      34.   Yes, WHY?? 17:51  |  Macclancy 29/01/09
      35.   Silvienne , you dont determinewho or what is loyal or disloyal. 17:59  |  Steve-USA 29/01/09
      36.   Bombing tunnels is not a solution..... 20:49  |  SKH 29/01/09
      37.   Absolutely agree! The solution is.... 16:08  |  The Archives 31/01/09
      38.   No. 7, Dan 15:51  |  SakuraOne 07/02/09
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