Israel Matzav

IDF warns again of retaking Philadelphi corridor

The IDF is warning that in the event that there is another conflict in Gaza, it may retake the Philadelphi corridor (pictured), which runs along the border between Gaza and Egypt and under which most of the weapons smuggling tunnels run. As you may recall, in the fall of 2005 US Secretary of State Rice used 'gentle persuasion' to 'convince' Israel to leave the corridor in the tender loving care of European monitors and Egypt, both of which proved to be willfully ineffective. When Hamas took over Gaza in early 2007, the European monitors fled. Until recently, the Egyptians showed no interest in policing the border area.

The Olmert government was presented with a plan to retake the corridor during Operation Cast Lead. It refused to do so because it was afraid that the only way to effectively retake the corridor would be to stay there for at least some period of time after the operation ended. In fact, that is the only way to effectively police the corridor: IDF troops have to be on the ground. But in light of how quickly Hamas rearmed after Operation Cast Lead, the Netanyahu government recognizes that there may be no choice but to station troops along the corridor.

Plans for such an operation have been drawn up and would likely include the deployment of several units in the southern Gaza town of Rafah and along the 14-kilometer strip of land called the Philadelphi Corridor under which Hamas has dug several hundred tunnels that are used to smuggle weapons and explosives into the Strip.

Such a plan was presented to Ehud Olmert's government ahead of last winter's Operation Cast Lead. At the time though, the government deemed such an operation too costly in IDF casualties. In addition, there was concern that such an operation would force the IDF to retain a long-term presence in Gaza, something the government did not want.

Such an operation would be designed to prevent Hamas from rearming following the larger conflict. It would require troops to go house-to-house in Rafah to search for tunnels and to destroy them. There is also the possibility that following such an operation, the IDF would retain a presence in southern Rafah to prevent the re-digging of the tunnels.

Over the last week or two, things have started to heat up again in Gaza. There have been Kassam rockets, mortars, and even a few Katyushas fired. While many people thought that we would only have to face Hamas again in the context of a diversionary attack while we dealt with Iran, things may happen sooner than that. Hopefully, this time, with God's help and a Prime Minister who is not a pacifist, we will be more successful than the last time.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:29 AM