A senior Israeli officer said Thursday that in the past two years Hamas has made a significant leap in the level of sophistication of the arms it is smuggling into Gaza Strip, which he said has reached "import" dimensions.
According to Haaretz, the officer said Hamas has been able to smuggle in large quant primarily because the border with Egypt has been completely porous following Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip. According to the officer, Hamas recently smuggled 20 tons of explosives into the Gaza Strip in the span of one month. The Israeli army believes Hamas now maintains a small quantity of anti-aircraft missiles and anti-tank rockets, which are most likely Sagger guided missiles.
According to the officer, Israel and Hamas are on a "collision course" in the Gaza Strip, adding that Israel does not have unlimited time to deal a serious blow to Hamas' strengthening in the Strip. Nonetheless, the officer said Hamas apparently is not interested in a confrontation with Israel at this time, and instead prefers to continue consolidating its power in Gaza, smuggling arms, and carrying out small-scale terror attacks against Israeli targets.
