Rice urged to look at Gaza smuggling

By · May 22, 2007

A letter calling for U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to review the extent of arms smuggling from Egypt to Gaza is circulating on the U.S. Senate floor.Initiated by Sens. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.), the letter says the Gaza-Egyptian border has become a major arms conduit, with shipments of high-grade explosives increasing six-fold from 2005 to 2006, from five tons to 30 million tons. “This situation has served the Hamas-led terrorist
infrastructure in Gaza, weakened the position of the Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and proven deadly for Israelis and
Palestinians alike,” the letter says. According to the Israeli military there are 20,000
assault rifles, 38 long-range Kassam missiles, 12 anti-aircraft guided
missiles, 95 anti-tank rocket launchers, 410 anti-tank rockets and 20
precision-guided anti-tank missiles in Gaza.

“Since a ‘cease-fire’ was announced last November, more than 200 rockets
have fallen on Israel from a Gaza that Israelis no longer inhabit,” the
letter says. “It is only a matter of time before disaster strikes.”