Ex-Shin Bet official: Egypt not blocking Gaza arms smuggling

Egypt's failure to stop the arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip from Sinai "almost ensures an eventual resumption of hostilities in Gaza," the former deputy chief of the Shin Bet security service warned recently.

The former Shin Bet deputy head, who is currently a visiting fellow at a research institute in the United States, published a paper on the subject in which he charged that "Egypt is averse to recognizing the severity of the issue." While Egypt does periodically expose smuggling tunnels and seize arms shipments, he said, it does not destroy the tunnels to put them out of commission. Instead, it either blocks the tunnel's entrance or posts a guard there, enabling Hamas to dig a new exit with relatively little work.

"There is no evidence that Egyptian forces are taking steps to arrest and punish smugglers," he continued, and without such steps, "there is little deterrence."

A Haaretz investigation also found that following Operation Cast Lead in Gaza earlier this year, the smuggling tunnels were continuing to operate undisturbed by the Egyptian authorities.

Compounding the problem, the former Shin Bet deputy head wrote, "cooperation between Egypt and Israel has been lacking." Just last month, Egypt decided against sending a delegation to Israel to discuss the smuggling, after originally agreeing to do so.

He added that the volume of arms smuggling into Gaza increased "slightly" after the Israel Defense Forces left the Strip in September 2005, but the real jump occurred after Hamas seized control of Gaza in mid-2007. Pre-disengagement, he said, about one ton of arms went through the tunnels annually. Since 2007, the figure has been about 100 tons a year.

From September 2005 through December 2008, he wrote, some 250 tons of explosives, 80 tons of fertilizer (which is used in improvised explosive devices), 1,800 rockets and 4,000 rocket-propelled grenades came through the tunnels, along with quantities of light arms and ammunition. In 2008, Hamas also brought a "formidable collection" of longer-range, Iranian-made Grad rockets through these tunnels.

The smuggling operation is run by Hamas' headquarters in Damascus with assistance from Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. The latter supplies most of the arms, which are smuggled via Yemen into various African countries, including some with which Israel maintains diplomatic relations such as South Africa, Eritrea and Ethiopia. With the latter, Israel also has extensive defense and intelligence ties. From these countries, the arms are funneled into Sudan and thence to Sinai, where they pass through the tunnels into Gaza.

Some smuggling also occurs by sea, the former Shin Bet deputy head noted: Barrels of weapons are thrown overboard off Gaza's coast and collected by local fishermen. He warned that Egypt is liable to find an Islamic state on its northern border if it does not start taking action against the smuggling. He also urged "U.S. oversight and active involvement" in this issue.

Though the article appears on the home page of the institute where the former security service deputy chief is working and gives his full name, under Israeli law, neither detail can be published locally.