Israel to step up operations in Gaza

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Israel to step up operations in Gaza 
14 months after withdrawal, tons of weapons smuggled in, rockets fly

JERUSALEM – The Israel Defense Forces in the coming days will expand its military operations against terrorists in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Knesset today.

"Israel is operating against Hamas centers in Gaza. We will expand the operations, but we will not remain for an extended period in Gaza," Olmert said.

The prime minister did not publicly announce the new measures he approved for operations in Gaza, which came after a meeting Thursday with the senior IDF leadership.

Israel withdrew from Gaza in the summer of 2005. Since then, Palestinians regularly have fired rockets at nearby Jewish communities. Terror groups reportedly smuggled hundreds of tons of weapons into the Gaza Strip as terror leaders there openly tell WND they are preparing for a confrontation with Israel.

One week ago, WND broke the story the Israeli military was set to present battle plans for approval by the government here for a large-scale Gaza offensive, including possible reoccupation of parts of the territory, according to senior IDF officers.

The officials said the offensive is "crucial" for Israel's security and would be the largest military operation launched against Palestinian terror groups in Gaza since Israel evacuated the territory last year. But the officials said they were worried the Gaza assault may be "watered down" by Olmert for political reasons.

As WND reported, senior IDF officials told Israel's Knesset earlier this month more than 20 tons of weapons have been brought into Gaza from the neighboring Sinai desert in the last 10 months alone, including a large number of anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

WND also obtained a report by the intelligence branch of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party which stated Hamas has smuggled between several hundred and 1,300 tons of weapons from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, including advance rockets; anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles; rocket-propelled grenades; raw explosives; rifles; ammunition; and other heavy weaponry.

Yuval Diskin, director of Israel's Shin Bet Security Services, told the Knesset last month there are major fears Palestinian terror groups are "turning Gaza into south Lebanon."

Diskin was referring to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia's development in south Lebanon of large rocket and weapons arsenals for use against Israel.

In a deal brokered in November by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Egypt-Gaza border, once controlled by the Jewish state, now is manned by Egyptian and Palestinian security officials and observed by European monitors. The monitors reportedly have fled their duty several times the past few months.

Israeli security officials have noted multiple breaches in border security, including the open transport of terrorists and weapons across the border. They say several key sections of the border are penetrable, and smuggling tunnels that snake under the border are "thriving."

Since Israel's Gaza withdrawal, Palestinian terror groups have been regularly firing rockets at Jewish communities neighboring the Gaza Strip. The targeted communities are inside what is referred to as "pre-1967 Israel," meaning territory certified by the international community as unquestionably part of the Jewish state.

The IDF launched a major ground invasion of Gaza in June following the raid of an Israeli military installation just outside Gaza during which Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was kidnapped. Since then, most Israeli operations inside Gaza were surgical and mostly utilized small numbers of ground troops.

Gaza assault 'to badly damage terror infrastructure'

At a scheduled meeting of Olmert's security cabinet last week, the IDF outline a major Gaza assault aimed at blocking Egypt-Gaza smuggling routes, confiscating weaponry already transferred into Gaza, halting the rocket-firing at Jewish communities and badly damaging Gaza's terror infrastructure.

Senior IDF sources told WND the weapons confiscation operation would include a large ground invasion and sweep of southern and northern Gaza towns. They said, according to intelligence information, most weaponry is concentrated in and near Rafah, the south border city between Gaza and Egypt.

But they suspect in the coming weeks the terror groups, anticipating an IDF onslaught, will transfer weaponry to private homes and underground storage centers in central and north Gaza.

"The only way to get to the weaponry is a large sweep of the hot zones that includes house-to-house searches," said an IDF source.

IDF plans to stem the weapons smuggling from Egypt into Gaza include the establishment of a permanent Israeli military presence at the Gaza-Egypt border to generate real-time intelligence at the site and to serve as a launch pad for pinpoint operations to stop the smuggling.

Military sources, though, said Olmert was unlikely to approve what would amount to the reoccupation of parts of Gaza.

"We should never have withdrawn in the first place," a senior IDF officer told WND. "The greatest admission of the Gaza withdrawal's failure would be for us to have to reoccupy any part of Gaza. I don't think that will happen. Olmert will also have to contend with major international backlash for any such move."

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The officer said another plan presented to Olmert entails the creation of a large ditch along the Gaza-Egypt border that would be filled with water from the nearby Mediterranean Sea, causing any weapons-smuggling tunnels constructed along the border to collapse.

IDF sources said plans to stop Qassam rocket-fire include the reoccupation of the northern Gaza Strip, from which most rockets have been fired, or the stepping up of targeted operations to take out rockets and rocket crews before the projectiles are launched.

The IDF is aware Palestinians have smuggled into Gaza longer-range rockets that can be fired from the central part of the territory so that if the northern Strip were occupied, rockets can still target nearby Jewish communities, military sources said.

"Occupation of the northern Gaza Strip will inhibit a lot of rocket fire, but we know we would need to retake most of the central and northern Strip to completely stop the fire," an IDF source said.

Senior military leaders said any major Gaza operation would be planned for later next month, after Olmert returns from a trip to the United States scheduled for Nov. 13.

The military leaders worried politics might hamper what they say are "necessary" military operations.

"Olmert cannot afford another disaster like Lebanon," a senior IDF officer explained. "Any major ground incursion includes risk to the lives of Israeli troops. Olmert might not want to risk anything unless he can be convinced the overall plan will be absolutely successful."

Military chief: Israel may reoccupy Gaza

Last, week, IDF chief of staff Dan Halutz announced the military is considering establishing a regular presence in Gaza.

Halutz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee IDF troops in recent days uncovered more than 100 tunnel entrances dug by Palestinian militants on the Egypt-Gaza border for intended weapons smuggling activities.

The IDF chief said a military presence at the Philadelphi Route, the border road between Egypt and Gaza, would be preferable to the absence of IDF forces in the area.

"We are close to the decision point regarding our presence along the Philadelphi Route, if the present reality of arms-smuggling doesn't stop," Halutz said.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz immediately responded to Halutz' presentation saying Israel would not reoccupy the Gaza Strip, but the IDF would continue to operate against weapons smuggling if needed.

"We have no intention of reoccupying the Gaza Strip," Peretz said during a tour of the Southern Command. "We have no intention of remaining in the Gaza Strip. (Still), there is no military operation that will not be carried out, should we reach the conclusion that it is the way to defend the citizens of Israel."

Terror leaders prepare for war in Gaza

During the past few weeks, senior terror leaders in Gaza, including militants from Abbas' Fatah party, told WND they are planning for war against Israel.

"We are turning Gaza into south Lebanon," said Abu Ahmed, northern Gaza leader for the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group.

"We learned from Hezbollah's victory that Israel can be defeated if we know how to hit them and if we are well prepared," Abu Ahmed said. "We are importing rockets and the knowledge to launch them, and we are also making many plans for battle."

Abu Abdullah, a leader of Hamas' so-called "military wing," told WND his group is preparing for war against Israel.

"In the last 15 months, even though the fighters of Hamas kept the cease-fire, we did not stop making important advancements and professional training on the military level. In the future, after Hamas is obliged to stop the cease-fire, the world shall see our new military capabilities," said Abu Abdullah, who is considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, Hamas' declared "resistance" department.

Al Aqsa's Abu Ahmed said his group is receiving help from Hezbollah to import long-range rockets and train in guerrilla warfare tactics.

"We have warm relations with Hezbollah, which helps with some of the training programs," Abu Ahmed said. "We don't have anything to be ashamed of – that we are dealing with Hezbollah and that we are receiving training and information from them."

He said Hezbollah maintains cells in the Sinai.

"The Sinai is an excellent ground for training, the exchange of information and weapons and for meetings on how to turn every piece of land into usable territory for a confrontation with Israel," Abu Ahmed said.

The terror leader said Palestinian groups are developing war bunkers inside Gaza similar to the underground Hezbollah lairs Israel found during last month's war in Lebanon.

"Our preparations include the building of special bunkers. Of course, we are taking into consideration that Gaza is not the same topography as Lebanon," Abu Ahmed said.

During its confrontation with Hezbollah, Israel destroyed scores of complex bunkers that snaked along the Lebanese side of the Israel-Lebanon border. Military officials said they were surprised by the scale of Hezbollah bunkers, in which Israeli troops reportedly found war rooms stocked with advanced eavesdropping and surveillance equipment they noted were made by Iran.

Abu Ahmed said the most important "tool" in the "Palestinian resistance" arsenal was rockets. He said his group learned from Hezbollah that Israel can be defeated with missiles.

"We saw that with the capacity to bombard the Israeli population with hundreds of rockets every day we can change the strategic balance with Israel," he said.

Palestinian terror groups generally have fired at Israeli towns three versions of Qassam rockets, improvised steel projectiles filled with explosives and fuel. Qassams can travel between one and five miles depending on the sophistication of the particular rocket.

Israel has noted improvements in Qassams, including rockets carrying double engines.

Israeli security officials say a large number of Katyusha rockets have been brought into Gaza. Katyushas can travel about 12 miles and can deliver large payloads. Hezbollah fired more than 2,800 Katyusha rockets into Israel in July and August, devastating many northern towns.

In August, Islamic Jihad fired a Katyusha rocket into the Israeli Negev. It landed in an empty area. In June, the group fired a Katyusha-like rocket that traveled about nine miles.

"The Katyusha we fired (in August) shows we can have every weapon we need," said Abu Ahmed. "It is only a matter of a small period before Gaza is ready for war."