The military headquarters of Hamas in Damascus has ordered militants in the West Bank to carry out a major attack inside Israel, the deputy chief of the Shin Bet security service told government ministers on Sunday. "There are efforts on the part of the Hamas leadership in Damascus to put together a plan to foil diplomatic efforts between Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Israel," said Y., the Shin Bet deputy head.
Y. added that a sense of frustration is rippling through the ranks of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, because its efforts to obtain international legitimization as the coastal strip's rulers have been fruitless, and because Fatah forces overthrown in June by the militant group refuse to renew reconciliation efforts. "According to information that has reached Israel, Hamas is frustrated that the Rafah crossing has remained closed, and the organization is considering escalating its activities against Egypt in order to open the crossing," the Shin Bet deputy chief said.
He added that the organization's frustration, and the fact that the population in Gaza blames it for the crisis with Fatah, has sent it into strategic confusion. These factors increase the risk that Hamas' will change its policy on suicide attacks in Gaza, the West Bank and abroad.
Since Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip, weapons smuggling from Egypt is on the rise, prompted by a decrease in preventative action on Egypt's part, Y. also said.
He added that since the takeover two months ago, 40 tons of explosives - or half the total amount brought in to Gaza since Israel's disengagement in the summer of 2005 - have been brought in. Since the beginning of August, 150 RPG launchers and 13 tons of explosives have entered Gaza, Y. said.
On Saturday, army sources said Hamas is stepping up efforts to carry out attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers near the Gaza perimeter security fence, after Israeli forces killed eight Palestinians and an Israeli Arab boy in the West Bank and Gaza over the weekend. Palestinian sources told Haaretz that the organization was using other Gaza militant groups to escalate hostilities with Israel and close down the Erez Crossing in the northern Gaza Strip.
| Islamic Jihad is always willing to help their brothers in arms ... |
The Israel Defense Forces, which frequently target Gaza militants firing rockets into Israel, said it would look into the report.
Earlier Sunday, six Palestinian youths infiltrated Israel, but were apprehended almost as soon as they climbed over the border wall, an Israeli military spokesman said. The six were detained for questioning. Their motives were not immediately clear, but it appeared they infiltrated into Israel in order to look for work.
"Escape from
However, Israeli towns in the vicinity were placed on alert and residents ordered not to leave their homes, as the infiltration occurred not far from the spot where IDF troops pursued and shot dead two armed militants on Saturday after the men got past the security fence around the Gaza Strip and opened fire on an IDF post.
Both militants in Saturday's infiltration, who were carrying weapons and explosives, apparently belonged to the Popular Resistance Committees, an
Sources in the Palestinian Authority say Hamas sponsored the attack in order to get Israel to close the Erez Crossing. Hamas wanted to prevent a group of Palestinian students from passing through the crossing, a move the Palestinian Authority's Fatah leadership coordinated with Israel without consulting Hamas, the sources said. Hamas authorized the smaller Popular Resistance Committees and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine to carry out the attack because it feared its rival, Fatah, might present the opening of the Erez crossing as an achievement, they said.
According to the sources, Hamas is increasing its efforts to fire mortar rounds at IDF forces around Gaza and Qassam rockets at Israeli towns in the northern Negev.
An initial military investigation suggested the militants climbed the fence using ropes near the Erez crossing. They managed to steal unnoticed past IDF watch towers, possibly due to hazy conditions that limited visibility. A third militant, possibly from the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, may have entered Israel with them and returned to Gaza unharmed.
Military sources said the troops who killed the militants acted swiftly and effectively, and the Golani Brigade arrested two Palestinians from Gaza suspected of aiding the infiltrators.
In the West Bank city of Jenin, forces from the IDF and Border Police killed senior Islamic Jihad militant Ala Abu al-Said and another operative, Mustafa Atik, in a joint operation Saturday. The forces killed a third operative in the shootout, and wounded several others.
On Friday, Border Police officers killed an 11-year-old Israeli boy from the Negev community of Rahat, who was visiting his mother's family near Tul Karm, in the West Bank. One wanted Islamic Jihad militant was killed in the raid, and a second was seriously wounded. The IDF took him for treatment at an Israeli hospital.
Relatives said Mahmoud Ibrahim Karnawi lived in Rahat with his parents. Palestinian witnesses said he was shot in a gunfight that broke out as IDF troops approached the family's home in order to arrest his older half-brother, a wanted Islamic Jihad militant. Neighbors said the boy was inside the house at the time of the shooting, and was hit in the crossfire. Hospital officials confirmed the death. Tariq Mulham, the slain Islamic Jihad militant, was not related to the boy, Palestinian sources said. The IDF said its forces were shot at during an operation, sparking an exchange of fire, which wounded a Border Police officer. The army said it was investigating whether the Israeli boy was killed by Palestinian or IDF fire.