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Condoleezza Rice meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit in Washington on July 9. (AP)
Last update - 21:10 19/07/2007
Egypt fails to persuade the U.S. Congress to unfreeze funds
By Amos Harel and Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent

Senior Egyptian officials visiting Washington have failed thus far in attempts to convince the United States Congress to change course on its intention to freeze $200 million in aid, according to report received by sources in Jerusalem.

The freeze is partially due to Egypt's inaction against keeping weapons from being smuggled across its border into the Gaza Strip.

About one month ago, the House of Representatives approved its foreign aid bill, which stipulated that $1.1 billion in military aid would be transferred to Egypt instead of the $1.3 billion it usually receives.
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The law has not gone through the Senate or been signed by U.S. President George W. Bush.

The Americans are not the only party frustrated by the ease with which weapons are brought into the Gaza Strip. A senior Israel Defense Forces officer said Thursday Hamas has made a significant leap in the past two years in the level of sophistication of the arms it is smuggling into Gaza, which he said has reached "import" dimensions.

The officer said Hamas has been able to smuggle in a large quantity of weapons primarily because the border with Egypt has been completely porous following the militant group's takeover of the Gaza Strip.

"Hamas has jumped light years in its capabilities since Israel withdrew from Gaza two years ago," the official said. "Now that Hamas controls Gaza, it is even easier for the group to smuggle weapons across the Egyptian border," he continued.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman raised the aid issue during a visit to Washington last week, but were brushed off by the relevant congressional committees.

The Egyptian foreign minister met in Washington with Gary Ackerman, chairman of the House subcommittee on the Middle East and south Asia, and Nita Lowey, chairwoman of the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee.

The Egyptian officials asked the lawmakers to reconsider their intention to withhold aid. Lowey told Gheit that Egypt needs to prove that it is doing more to prevent the smuggling, telling him that "nothing is free."

Aboul Gheit submitted to both Lowey and Ackerman a document detailing Egypt's activities against the weapons smuggling, saying that advances on the issue had been made. However, the document did not convince the American lawmakers.

Political sources have said that Gheit and Suleiman were met with general dissatisfaction from the American regarding Egypt's performance on democratization and human rights in general. The report on the visit said that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, devoted only a few minutes to a meeting with the Egyptian foreign minister, and greeted him with coldness.

According to the IDF officer commenting on Hamas' evolving capabilities, the militant group recently smuggled 20 tons of explosives into the Gaza Strip in the span of one month. The IDF believes Hamas now possesses a small quantity of anti-aircraft missiles and anti-tank rockets, which are most likely Sagger guided missiles.

Hamas rejected the assessment. "This is not true," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said. "They want to use this as a pretext to tighten the siege on Gaza."

These types of weapons have yet to be used against Israeli troops in the territories.

The officer said that Israel and Hamas are on a "collision course" in the Gaza Strip, adding that Israel does not have unlimited time to deal a serious blow to Hamas' strengthening in the Strip.

Nonetheless, the officer said Hamas apparently is not interested in a confrontation with Israel at this time, and instead prefers to continue consolidating its power in Gaza, smuggling arms, and carrying out small-scale terror attacks against Israeli targets.

The officer said IDF operations in the Gaza Strip are primarily defensive in nature, with troops penetrating some 2-3 kilometers beyond the security fence.

Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip have on a few occasions fired the Grad version of Katyusha rockets against Israel, but are not believed to possess a great number of them. Katyushas have an average range of 30 kilometers (18 miles) while Qassams rockets, which are fired regularly into Israel, have a range of about 10 kilometers (six miles)
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  1.   ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL!!! 12:40  |  Ben Uziel 19/07/07
  2.   I thought the Gazeans were starving!! 12:45  |  ScotGuy 19/07/07
  3.   Hamas is king! 13:01  |  Fritz 19/07/07
  4.   We`ll All Regret Our Gov`t.`s Negligence. 13:01  |  Terry 19/07/07
  5.   WITH COMPLIMENTS FROM YR. EGYPTIAN 13:03  |  Robert 19/07/07
  6.   How is that possible if ALL Gates are closed including Rafah 13:06  |  Amanda 19/07/07
  7.   FRITZ.KING Hamas is raining missiles daily on Israeli civillians 13:19  |  PETER SM 19/07/07
  8.   High Tech Weapons?? 13:25  |  Natallie Durson 19/07/07
  9.   Arms to Gaza? 13:26  |  Hannah 19/07/07
  10.   If Egypt Won`t Police The Border... 13:38  |  Dyinglikeflies 19/07/07
  11.   Gaza withdrawal BIG MISTAKE!! 13:41  |  MM 19/07/07
  12.   N DURSON" the gap will get smaller as time goes by" Assuming 13:42  |  PETER SM 19/07/07
  13.   amanda the gates are closed 13:43  |  cool 19/07/07
  14.   EU-BAM Observer gives opinion 13:46  |  EU-BAM Officer 19/07/07
  15.   ...and the king of gaza shall fall,,,according to 13:48  |  zechariah 9 and "tho 19/07/07
  16.   Re-occupation. 13:55  |  Vitaly 19/07/07
  17.   AMANDA .Tunnels and bribery 13:58  |  PETER.SM 19/07/07
  18.   Has Israel learnt the lesson or looking for another deafeat. 14:07  |  Philistine 19/07/07
  19.   Where Is The Big Hero, Barak? 14:08  |  Yosef 19/07/07
  20.   AMANDA EU- BAM. @14.Another liar? "Hannah" "the usual zionist-- 14:10  |  PETER SM 19/07/07
  21.   Help: I really don`t get it ... 14:10  |  Mumper 19/07/07
  22.   To #6 They smuggle the arms through the tunnels 14:15  |  Rafi 19/07/07
  23.   amanda #6 14:15  |  ka 19/07/07
  24.   #6 amanda - you were probably thinking that the border is like 14:17  |  CK Tan 19/07/07
  25.   well...? 14:33  |  ravi 19/07/07
  26.   Talk to Hamas before it`s too late " Abbas & Fatah are finished" 14:37  |  Philistine 19/07/07
  27.   #18 -- collision course 14:40  |  idf_sergeant 19/07/07
  28.   18.... 14:56  |  ravi 19/07/07
  29.   Hamas still believing modern weapons can do more than diplomacy? 14:58  |  infidel 19/07/07
  30.   Levelling the field will save Israelis 14:58  |  Tim 19/07/07
  31.   we didn`t know 15:06  |  margriet 19/07/07
  32.   arms smuggling 15:13  |  tony 19/07/07
  33.   28 is for the idf sarge...27.. apologies 18 15:14  |  ravi 19/07/07
  34.   TOLD YOU SO:GIVING AWAY LAND IS MORTAL DANGER! RETAKE GAZA NOW!!! 15:23  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 19/07/07
  35.   OLMERT RESIGN NOW!!! 15:33  |  JB 19/07/07
  36.   Not a matter of guns, really.. 15:38  |  Maimon 19/07/07
  37.   The reality is somewhat different 15:39  |  Clickfool 19/07/07
  38.   Very likely true 15:45  |  Mark Lincoln 19/07/07
  39.   Expect a spectacular attack with devastating results 15:52  |  Boris 19/07/07
  40.   The Arabs remind me the Israeli soccer team in the 1950`s 15:55  |  Moti 19/07/07
  41.   NO PEACE WITH OUT WAR !!! 15:56  |  JOHN IMRON 19/07/07
  42.   #35 Again, Clickfool hits the target! 15:56  |  Joel Weltman 19/07/07
  43.   IAF-IDF 16:00  |  Ron 19/07/07
  44.   This IDF warning is not new , but it certainly proves 16:06  |  Joseph E . 19/07/07
  45.   Who are you talking about, Boris? # 39 16:13  |  Clickfool 19/07/07
  46.   IDF talks too much 16:13  |  sirius 19/07/07
  47.   Poor Israel, Send $ now 16:14  |  Mike 19/07/07
  48.   What`s a ton or two of High Explosives? 16:23  |  Joel Weltman 19/07/07
  49.   NO PEACE WITH OUT WAR !!! 16:24  |  JOHN IMRON 19/07/07
  50.   STOP THEM! 16:34  |  bashar 19/07/07
  51.   # 1 to Ben Uziel 16:35  |  Michael 19/07/07
  52.   They were supplied by the US 16:44  |  Marilyn 19/07/07
  53.   EU-BAM Officer ?? 16:44  |  Boycott 19/07/07
  54.   Expect an Abbas-Haniyyeh reconciliation 16:49  |  Nora 19/07/07
  55.   little thing called evidence 16:56  |  Rowan Berkeley 19/07/07
  56.   Israel Importing Arms. 16:57  |  Joe 19/07/07
  57.   Israel importing arms 16:59  |  Joe 19/07/07
  58.   Where is smart David gone? 16:59  |  Sens 19/07/07
  59.   `Defensive in nature `means Israelis will die later 17:00  |  Chick 19/07/07
  60.   N. Durson 17:00  |  Gary 19/07/07
  61.   #3 FRITZ - It isn`t an internal situation 17:03  |  * BEN JABO 19/07/07
  62.   #6 Amanda 17:06  |  * BEN JABO 19/07/07
  63.   #6 genious Amanda 17:08  |  Itsik 19/07/07
  64.   Talk To Hamas Before It`s Too Late 17:11  |  Gary 19/07/07
  65.   #8 Nutallie Durson 17:12  |  * BEN JABO 19/07/07
  66.   SORRY WE`RE BUSY PLANNING OUR ASSAULT ON COMPTROLLER & CO 17:12  |  PMO 19/07/07
  67.   # 18 Philistine 17:13  |  Lynn 19/07/07
  68.   Would Israel Level Gaza ? 17:13  |  Joe Moma 19/07/07
  69.   Hamas` Plans - in their own words 17:15  |  * BEN JABO 19/07/07
  70.   # 26 Philistine 17:16  |  Lynn 19/07/07
  71.   #25 The Invention Hate`s Fire 17:17  |  Joel Weltman 19/07/07
  72.   #28 ravi ng 17:18  |  * BEN JABO 19/07/07
  73.   # 6 Amanda 17:18  |  Lynn 19/07/07
  74.   cfool: Sagger guided missiles should help Hamas with traffic flow 17:18  |  Michael Korn 19/07/07
  75.   #39 Boris 17:20  |  * BEN JABO 19/07/07
  76.   #44 Marilyn - Reading comprehension problem? 17:25  |  * BEN JABO 19/07/07
  77.   to 31: yes, we know 17:28  |  dutchman 19/07/07
  78.   HAMAS` CLEARLY STATED GOALS 17:29  |  * BEN JABO 19/07/07
  79.   crying wolf 17:40  |  Mike 19/07/07
  80.   #47 Rowan Berkeley 17:40  |  Itsik 19/07/07
  81.   45Boycott,14 EU-BAM is a fake poster,we have one on this website, 17:41  |  lakshmi 19/07/07
  82.   Livni and Olmert made it possible 17:50  |  Jonathan S 19/07/07
  83.   Ben Jabo 17:57  |  Paul 19/07/07
  84.   All Palestinians Should Adopt A Dignified Moral 18:04  |  Bump Hamas 19/07/07
  85.   Aiding and Abetting the Enemy in Time of War 18:04  |  Mike 19/07/07
  86.   EU-BAM officer and LAKSHMI 18:05  |  Brant 19/07/07
  87.   Weird contradictions 18:11  |  Polybios 19/07/07
  88.   #44 All about Marilyn 18:12  |  Joel Weltman 19/07/07
  89.   Rowan and evidence 18:16  |  Polybios 19/07/07
  90.   # 26 Philistine- Talk about what? 18:18  |  Native2 19/07/07
  91.   Philistine - talk to Hamas about what? 18:18  |  Jewboy 19/07/07
  92.   WE TOLD YOU SO!! 18:19  |  BB 19/07/07
  93.   MM Haaretz will not apologize-they have a leftist policy 18:19  |  Ben Horin 19/07/07
  94.   response to Joe israel importing arms #48 18:19  |  Shepherd 19/07/07
  95.   For Michael Korn # 66 18:21  |  Clickfool 19/07/07
  96.   Wait a minute 18:27  |  BEN GURION XL 19/07/07
  97.   Hamas is legitimate in bringing in weapons into Gaza... 18:27  |  bat yam 19/07/07
  98.   DON`T WORRY, OUR SOUTHERN HOME FRONT IS WELL PROTECTED 18:30  |  PMO 19/07/07
  99.   18Philistine,it seems to me that the u.s.-israel-cabal is bound 18:34  |  lakshmi 19/07/07
  100.   high tech weapons 18:37  |  wh 19/07/07
  101.   to Vitaly 18:41  |  Paul 19/07/07
  102.   Well Done US 18:51  |  Gina 19/07/07
  103.   VERY, VERY FOOLISH TO ATTTACK EGYPT 18:57  |  Arik Silverman 19/07/07
  104.   The worse words an Egyptian or palestinain can hear 18:59  |  Chick 19/07/07
  105.   #73 lakshmi - give proof of your claim, if you dare (or can) 18:59  |  CK Tan 19/07/07
  106.   Natallie Durson 19:08  |  Gina 19/07/07
  107.   Philistine 19:12  |  Gina 19/07/07
  108.   What happened to Barak´s plan to attack Gaza + take Hamas down? 19:16  |  Alicia 19/07/07
  109.   Egupts frozin U.S. TAX MONEY 19:18  |  Larry 19/07/07
  110.   Magriet # 31 19:23  |  ChanahS 19/07/07
  111.   bashar # 42 19:27  |  ChanahS 19/07/07
  112.   Foreign countries..... 19:29  |  Shalom 19/07/07
  113.   65/Lynn: equilipruim & fairness must be achieved 19:36  |  Philistine 19/07/07
  114.   EU-BAM, I Used to Think That I Was `lakshmi`s` Childish Fellow 19:43  |  Indra 19/07/07
  115.   Sanity 19:45  |  17 19/07/07
  116.   Egypt did a lousy job in Gaza way back 19:52  |  El-Birawi 19/07/07
  117.   IDF # 27 19:55  |  Indra 19/07/07
  118.   #73 lakshmi - give proof of your claim, if you dare (or can) 20:00  |  CK Tan 19/07/07
  119.   # 36 20:29  |  tmh 19/07/07
  120.   Mark Lincoln - Clickfool - Durson - FYI 20:37  |  tadchase 19/07/07
  121.   Get AIPAC to stop illegal immigration from Mexico 20:53  |  Tosefta 19/07/07
  122.   #97 21:12  |  B 19/07/07
  123.   I know how this ends 21:13  |  Bretware 19/07/07
  124.   Tosefta - RE: pressure on Egypt 21:32  |  tadchase 19/07/07
  125.   99Tosefta,bribing border guards takes place all over the world, 21:49  |  lakshmi 19/07/07
  126.   Force limit (Tadchase #105) 21:55  |  Tosefta 19/07/07
  127.   103B,no israel cannot put drugs in the water supply because water 22:56  |  lakshmi 19/07/07
  128.   I wonder 23:23  |  Baz Mann 19/07/07
  129.   93/Gine:Use the dictionary, you may find more dirty words 23:59  |  Philistine 19/07/07
  130.   # 123 Bretware 00:05  |  ChanahS 20/07/07
  131.   110/ChanahS - 31/Margriet 00:30  |  Philistine 20/07/07
  132.   Philistine # 129 00:32  |  ChanahS 20/07/07
  133.   I am dissappointed by the treatment of our American friends 00:33  |  Egyptian 20/07/07
  134.   120/tadchase:Shame on America, When will be in your own? 00:44  |  Philistine 20/07/07
  135.   Egypt fails to persuade the U.S. Congress to unfreeze funds 00:47  |  Jacks 20/07/07
  136.   Maan News reports that there is an israeli radio report 00:48  |  lakshmi 20/07/07
  137.   #127 lakshmi 00:57  |  * BEN JABO 20/07/07
  138.   132/ChanahS: 01:00  |  Philistine 20/07/07
  139.   133/Egyptian. 01:10  |  Philistine 20/07/07
  140.   115 from NYC: Just a correction 01:25  |  Philistine 20/07/07
  141.   Philistine 01:39  |  Gina 20/07/07
  142.   #132, ChanahS 01:39  |  Silvienne 20/07/07
  143.   Philistine 02:09  |  Gina 20/07/07
  144.   If Egypt is smartt 02:12  |  Palestinian 20/07/07
  145.   tad chase - so what? 02:23  |  Mark Lincoln 20/07/07
  146.   It is clear to you and I tosefta, but 02:27  |  Mark Lincoln 20/07/07
  147.   141Gina,nothing in your posts suggests any interest in saving 02:45  |  lakshmi 20/07/07
  148.   This US move proves that Israel security is in IDF hands 03:01  |  Joseph E . 20/07/07
  149.   LAKSHMI 136 and GAZA 03:09  |  Brant 20/07/07
  150.   lakshmi 05:22  |  Gina 20/07/07
  151.   150 I gather keeping 6,000 Palestinians stranded and 20 plus 13:43  |  lakshmi 20/07/07
  152.   #151 lakshmi 02:32  |  * BEN JABO 21/07/07
  153.   #98 PMO 02:38  |  * BEN JABO 21/07/07
  154.   AMANDA FROM THE UK 08:20  |  Benji 17/01/08
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