Israel Matzav

Hamas: Agreement to end fighting did not include agreement to stop weapons smuggling

Of course. Hamas announced on Saturday that the 'cease fire' does not include any commitment - from them or from the Egyptians - to stop weapons smuggling.

Ezat Risheq, member of the Hamas "political bureau," said that reports claiming that the agreement calls for an end to the smuggling of weapons were untrue.

Risheq was commenting on reports that claimed that special US army units would be deployed along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt to stop the flow of weapons to Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups.

The Hamas official claimed that Israel was behind the reports "to cover up for its defeat."

In a related development, Ziad Nakhalah, deputy head of Islamic Jihad, told the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper that the cease-fire agreement was "temporary and partial."

He said that Islamic Jihad would not be able to live with the agreement for ever "as if matters were normal."

...

He said that Islamic Jihad would never lay down its arms. "The cease-fire must be mutual," he added.

"According to the agreement, Israel must end the blockade and facilitate the movement of Palestinians in the sea and on the land. If this is not implemented, we will return to the previous situation."

And in fact, Israel is now allowing Gaza 'fishermen' to stray as far as six miles from the Gaza shores. The previous limit was three miles.

Bibi is looking like a wimp.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Gaza, weapons smuggling

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:37 PM