Hamas’ Gaza smuggling tunnels may soon have the capability to smuggle long range missles and rockets into Gaza in one piece, according to a senior IDF official who spoke with the Jerusalem Post.

The terrorist group’s operatives and contractors would need to widen new tunnels or old ones that weren’t destroyed during Israel’s recent Operation Cast Lead campaign.

Not only do they get slammed by a Palestinian human rights group that alleges Hamas shot and killed 10 members of Gaza’s Soprano-like Dagmoush / Dugmoush clan — including an 18 month-old toddler and a 16 year-old teen, but now Hamas is throwing a temper tantrum over Egypt’s continued mediation efforts over the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.


The London-based Saudi newspaper Asharq Alawsat reports that Hamas is attempting to add a new condition to resume negotiations over Shalit, by insisting that Egypt release Palestinians arrested by Egyptian security forces in January following the Hamas-led collapse of Gaza’s border fence with Egypt near the Rafah crossing.

An unnamed Hamas pundit cried to the newspaper, “[i]t is unreasonable for Egypt to mediate between us and Israel so as to reach a prisoners’ swap deal while at the same time detaining our elements unjustly.”

Every country has the right to arrest and detain those who attempt to cross its borders illegally.  Why should Egypt be treated any differently?

If there is any injustice, it is Hamas’ patently illegal ongoing role in the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit from inside Israel to Gaza, a role recently highlighted by British reporter Christine Toomey.

According to Asharq Alawsat, Hamas is so upset about Egypt’s role in mediating Shalit’s release, that some members of the terrorist group want to have European or Arab countries replace Egypt in the process.

But Egypt is an Arab country.  Hamas’ foolish temper tantrum should fall on deaf ears.

The head of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) military intelligence warned the country’s Knesset that Hamas continues to arm itself with Qassam rockets and other weapons capabilities that may threaten Israel’s home front.


Brigadier General Yossi Baidatz reportedly told Israeli legislators that “Hamas is also improving its defense capabilities in case of an Israeli operation (in Gaza)…”The Islamist group is turning Gaza into a bona fide state. Hamas is the clear and decisive ruler there.”

Baidatz also reported that Egypt is still unable to stop weapons and goods smuggling through Gaza’s illegal underground tunnels.

A new report says that Hamas rejected a joint Egyptian and Jordanian proposal to send Arab troops to Gaza to train Palestinian police forces.


Not surprisingly, Hamas immediately rejected the proposal, according to the Jerusalem Post’s Khaled Abu Toameh.

Why? It seems that such a plan would have involved some oversight into of weapons in Gaza, as well as efforts to prevent Hamas’ ongoing smuggling of arms, anti-tank weapons, anti-aircraft weapons, missiles, and other contraband from Egypt into Gaza.

Here is a diagram showing how weapons smuggling operations operate from Rafah inside Egypt to Gaza. The diagram depicts how Israel had maintained a security corridor between Egypt and Gaza before ceding control of the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority several years ago.

Diagram: Israel News Agency