- 26 aug 2011
Gaza: New weapons being used - what are they?
(5:57) Gaza: New weapons being used - what are they?.wmv 1 x viewed
Victims of israel's recent attacks on Gaza are arriving at Al Shifa Hospital with extensive burns, severe deep tissue injuries, and severed limbs and extremeties - mutilation injuries unlike any the medical staff encountered even duirng Operation Cast Lead.
What is this new weapon, and what is the international community going to do about its use on civilians, especially children - the majority of the victims to date.
30 oct 2012, 14:33 , Respect -
Maria 26 aug 2011
Gaza groups reaffirm ceasefire
Islamic Jihad says will abide by truce agreed upon by Popular Resistance Committees, Hamas vis-à-vis Israel; statement follows conflicting vow to avenge killing of two operatives in IAF strike.
The Islamic Jihad announced on Thursday that it will stand by the armistice agreed upon by Hamas, the Popular Resistance Committees and other Gaza groups vis-à-vis Israel.
Jihad spokesman Nasiz Azzam said that the lull – originally brokered on Sunday after several days of incessant rocket fire at Israel – will take effect starting at 1 am on Friday.
The statement was contrary to one made just mere hours earlier by the al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad's military wing, which vowed to avenge the killing of two Jihad operatives in an IAF strike in Gaza.
Military aircrafts targeted a terror cell in the southwestern Gaza neighborhood of Sudaniya as it was gearing to fire rockets at Israel. Medical sources in the Strip reported that two Jihad operatives were killed.
"A million people are now within range of our rockets, and this figure might turn into two or three million or even more, if Israel does not stop its aggression," the al-Quds Brigades' statement said.
Jihad Spokesman Abu-Ahmad further criticized Hamas' stance in regard to Israel, saying that, "Those who call for a lull while Israeli aggression, including aerial strikes and bombardments of civil and military targets continues – are living on a different planet.
"If someone is afraid of losing their seat – they can just stand aside and mind their own business," he added.
The fragile armistice seemed to dissipate completely on Thursday, as Israel's southern communities came under Gaza terrorists' fire.
One of the 10 rockets fired at the western Negev over Thursday evening damaged Erez crossing. No injuries were reported.
"There have been many efforts by Egyptian leaders to restore the ceasefire," a Jihad spokesman said. A spokesman for the Hamas government in Gaza confirmed Egypt and the United Nations' involvement in brokering the reaffirmed truce.
"The government has called on the Palestinian factions not to give an opportunity to the (Israeli) occupation government to escalate its aggression further," Taher Nunu, a Hamas-government spokesman said.
Another Hamas official said all key factions agreed to the truce and that the Gaza government and Egypt were trying to get tiny factions on board, too.
http://fwd4.me/09wX
Islamic Jihad: Ceasefire with Israel agreed at dawn
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Senior Islamic Jihad officials said the faction had agreed a ceasefire with Israel at dawn Friday, after mediation by Egypt.
Two members of Islamic Jihad's military wing were killed in an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip around 9 p.m. Thursday, prompting outraged calls to reject a truce from the Islamic faction and another group, the Popular Resistance Committees.
But at around 1 a.m. Friday, senior Islamic Jihad leader Nafez Azzam, said a ceasefire would come into effect immediately.
Azzam lauded Egypt's role in brokering the truce, saying the country had "invested a great deal of effort in order to stabilize the deal."
Senior Islamic Jihad official Mohammed El-Hindi said the group would keep a close eye on the situation, and respond to any breach of the ceasefire.
The Hamas-run government in Gaza contacted Egypt, as well as the US, to brief leaders on the latest clashes with Israel, government spokesman Taher An-Nunu said.
The previous ceasefire, also mediated by Egypt, collapsed after two days on Tuesday when an Israeli air strike killed an Islamic Jihad field commander and rocket fire from Gaza continued to hit locations in southern Israel.
That deal attempted to calm tensions after 19 Palestinians were killed in four days of Israel air strikes in the coastal enclave, and 150 rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israeli towns and cities in the south, killing one man and injuring more than 20, one critically.
The latest clashes came after unknown militants ambushed a number of vehicles in southern Israel on August 18, killing nine Israelis and prompting Israeli leaders to pin the attacks on Gaza factions.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=416218
Gaza mourners call for vengeance
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – Hundreds of Palestinians took part Thursday in mourning the seven Palestinians who were killed in Israeli attacks. Two more Palestinians were killed shortly thereafter.
Mourners condemned the attacks and called on the international community to intervene. They also called on resistance fighters to respond and avenge the bloodshed in Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=416132
Egypt to hold massive anti-Israel rally
Egyptians are set to stage a million-man demonstration at Cairo's Liberation Square to call for an end to the country's peace accord with Israel, following a week of escalating tensions between the neighbors.
Demonstrators will also gather outside the Israeli embassy to demand the expulsion of Tel Aviv's ambassador to Egypt Yitzhak Levanon.
Scores of protesters have been demonstrating in front of the Israel embassy in Cairo for the seventh day in a row, Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al- Youm reported on Friday.
Anti-Israel protests erupted at Tel Aviv embassy in Cairo last week after five Egyptian policemen were killed in an attack by Israeli military on the Rafah border crossing.
On Thursday, Egypt's security forces clashed with protesters who had staged a sit-in outside the Israel embassy in Cairo.
The peace agreement between Israel and Egypt was signed in 1979 to end the state of war between the neighbors.
Under the pressure of anti-Israel protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday announced readiness to carry out a joint investigation with Cairo into the killing of the Egyptian security personnel.
"Israel is ready to hold a joint investigation with the Egyptians into the difficult event," a statement issued by Netanyahu's office quoted his national security adviser, Yaakov Amidror, as saying.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195825.html
30 oct 2012, 14:33 , Respect -
Maria 30 oct 2012, 14:33 , Respect -
Maria 27 aug 2011
Israel threatened launching extensive military assault on Gaza Strip
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israel threatened it would launch a massive ground and air military attack on the Gaza Strip in response to new rockets Palestinian factions fired into southern Israel in retaliation to Israeli occupation raids.
Israeli Channel One said Saturday morning that Israeli authorities, using unidentified mediators, have sternly warned Palestinian factions in Gaza that Israel would respond harshly with intensive air strikes and possible ground operations should the rockets continue.
The warnings came after the Israeli Political-Security Cabinet, chaired by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, convened on Friday evening, the source said..
Since Tuesday evening, Israel has killed 11 Palestinians and injured dozens in an onslaught of air strikes across the Gaza Strip. Those attacks came after the factions declared a ceasefire following another series of Israeli attacks that killed 15 Palestinians and injured some 60.
The ceasefire between the Israeli occupation and Palestinian factions which was brokered by Egypt, was broken every time by the Israeli occupation prompting the resistance factions to retaliate.
http://fwd4.me/0A2V
Report: Egypt thwarts plan to assassinate Haniyeh
CAIRO (Ma'an) -- Palestinian sources say Egypt managed to stop Israel from following through on a plan to assassinate Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister in Gaza, Egyptian media reported Saturday.
Egypt's Al-Ahram daily quoted Palestinian sources as saying Israel's plan, approved in the wake of last Thursday's deadly attacks in Eilat, was aborted after Egypt pressured Israel to back down.
The report did not specify how Egypt pressured Israel, although media in both countries have reported over the past week that Cairo took an active role in calming tensions between the Israelis and factions in Gaza.
Egypt has forced Israel to abort a mission aiming to assasinate Hamas prime minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram reported, citing Palestinian sources.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=416429
Palestinians accept new Israeli truce
Palestinians carry the body of an Islamic Jihad resistance fighter in Gaza city, August 25
Palestinian resistance movement Islamic Jihad has agreed to a new ceasefire with the Israeli regime after Tel Aviv escalated its attacks on the impoverished Gaza Strip.
The Hamas government in Gaza confirmed the deal, which was brokered by Egyptian authorities, AFP reported.
The resistance movement launched a volley of rockets and mortars towards southern Israel in response to Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday that killed two Islamic Jihad leaders.
An earlier ceasefire was made between Hamas and Tel Aviv on Monday, but it did not stop the Israeli regime from launching further deadly airstrikes on the Gaza strip, killing more Palestinians.
Tel Aviv has intensified its attacks against the impoverished territory over the past week. The indiscriminate Israeli bombing raids followed the killing of eight individuals by unknown assailants near Israel's Red Sea resort town of Eilat.
The Arab League has condemned the air strikes and called for the United Nations intervention to halt the Israeli aggression.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195967.html
Bahar warns Israeli occupation government against attacking Gaza
GAZA, (PIC)-- The first deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Ahmad Bahar warned the Israeli occupation government against “playing with fire and getting embroiled in the Gaza quagmire,” stressing that the Israeli occupation is trying to drag the Palestinian people into open confrontation.
In a statement on Saturday, Bahar said that for the Israelis to think that attacking the Gaza Strip will be a picnic is a big mistake and means that the occupation government has not learnt from past ventures.
He added that if the Israeli occupation army decided to go ahead with the aggression they will find tough resistance and the occupation will lose the battle of wills despite having a vicious killing machine that could commit massacres like it did in the last war on the Gaza Strip.
He also called on Palestinian resistance factions to observe the calm which was agreed amongst resistance factions so as not to give the Israeli occupation an excuse for its aggression.
http://fwd4.me/0A2o
Impact of the Arab uprisings on Palestine-Remember Palestine-08-27-2011
(21:03) Impact of the Arab uprisings on Palestine-Remember Palestine-08-27-2011
Following a spring and summer of uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, we look at what, if any the effect has been on Palestinians.
In this edition, we talk to Corinna Mullin, a lecturer in International Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, about how the changing dynamics in the Arab world are influencing Palestine.
30 oct 2012, 14:34 , Respect -
Maria 30 oct 2012, 14:34 , Respect -
Maria 30 oct 2012, 14:34 , Respect -
Maria 29 aug 2011
Israel army says troops reinforced at south borders
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israel's army chief ordered extra troops to borders with Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, citing a "concrete warning" of an impending attack by Islamic Jihad, a statement said.
Israeli Chief of the General Staff Benny Gantz made the decision in coordination with Egypt, according to an Israeli army statement.
Members of the Gaza-based Islamic Jihad group are in Sinai planning an attack on Israel, Haaretz reported Monday, citing security sources.
Islamic Jihad said it had agreed to a ceasefire deal with Israel on Friday after a previous truce broke down when Israeli forces killed two Islamic Jihad militants, and the faction launched projectiles across the border.
Violence had renewed after a series of deadly ambushes near the southern Israeli city of Eilat on August 18, which Israel blamed on Gaza factions.
Israeli forces pursued attackers over the southern border into Egypt's Sinai region, killing five Egyptian troops, and prompting a diplomatic crisis.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday Israel would consider Egyptian requests for additional forces in the peninsula, currently limited by the terms of the 1979 peace accord between the countries.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak had said earlier that "several" requests had already been approved since the fall of former president Hosni Mubarak in February.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=416825
Gantz orders IDF reinforcement in South after terror alert
Islamic Jihad terrorist cell is believed to have left Gaza and entered Sinai; defense establishment informs Egypt of alert.
IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz has ordered a reinforcement of army presence near the southern Gaza Strip and the Israel-Egypt border following a terrorist alert indicating that the Islamic Jihad was planning to perpetrate an attack in the area.
It is estimated that the terrorist cell has already left the Gaza Strip to Sinai, which has become a hotbed of terrorist activity in recent months. The defense establishment has also passed on details of the alert to Egypt.
Army officers stressed again on Monday that they view Hamas as the responsible party for any terrorist activity in Gaza or that originates in Gaza.
Gantz's directive was issued after some tense two weeks in the sector following the terrorist attack in which eight Israelis were killed.
After the attack, the IDF had confirmed that despite an alert that came from the Shin Bet, it preferred to open Highway 12, which runs along the border with Egypt towards Eilat, especially in light of the estimate that terrorists would not try to infiltrate the border in daytime. Since the attack, the highway has been closed.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4115022,00.html
30 oct 2012, 14:34 , Respect -
Maria 30 oct 2012, 14:35 , Respect -
Maria 30 aug 2011
Israel sends 2 warships to Egyptian border
Military sources tell AP Defense Ministry dispatched to warships to Red Sea border with Egypt following intelligence indicating viable terror threat.
The Israeli military said Monday that it has sent two additional warships to the Red Sea border with Egypt following warnings that militants are planning another attack on southern Israel from Egyptian soil.
Monday saw IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen Benny Gantz order the deployment across the entire southern sector, and especially in the area near the Israel-Egypt border, increased, following intelligence indicated a viable terror threat in the area.
The southern sector, and especially the area adjacent to the border, has been virtually flooded with military forces, deployed in a manner defined by one security source as "unprecedented.
No changes in security alignments were observed on the Egyptian side of the border.
The security situation in southern Israel has been particularly tense over the past few weeks, following a series of terror attacks that claimed the lives of eight Israelis in mid August; as well as several days in which Israel's south and western Negev communities suffered heavy shelling by Gaza Strip-based terror groups.
http://fwd4.me/0AFl
Israeli warships on 'routine' patrol in Red Sea
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- An Israeli military official said on Tuesday that two additional warships had been stationed in the Red Sea but added that this was no more than routine.
He played down reports that they were connected to an Egyptian sweep of the Sinai peninsula for militants that has been reported in the Israeli media, although he declined to say what, if any, operational duties the ships were performing.
"I can confirm that there are two naval craft in the Red Sea. This is not unusual," the official told Reuters.
Brent crude prices extended gains after the reports came out, adding around $1 to trade up $2.19 at $114.05.
Israeli warships are regularly stationed at a naval port in the resort city of Eilat at the northern tip of the Red Sea and patrol the area to the south as part of routine procedure to secure Israel's borders.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=416987
30 oct 2012, 14:35 , Respect -
Maria 30 aug 2011
'All of Gaza will be held responsible for terror in South'
Barak calls on defense establishment to maintain high preparedness in South after Vilnai says terrorist cell plans to attack Israel on border with Egypt during Id al-Fitr.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday said that "all of Gaza" would be held responsible for any terror attack perpetrated in the South, Israel Radio reported.
Barak instructed the defense establishment to maintain a high level of preparedness in the South in response to intelligence suggesting a terror attack is being planned near the border with Egypt.
Earlier on Tuesday, Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vinai said that a cell of more than 10 terrorists is currently in the Sinai with plans to carry out an attack against Israel along its border with Egypt.
“Islamic Jihad is trying for a long time to perpetrate the attacks from the Sinai and the Id al-Fitr is a good time for attacks,” Vilnai said during a visit to an Elbit Systems factory in Sderot in reference to the Muslim holiday, which begins on Tuesday. “The defense establishment has concrete intelligence regarding plans by a terror cell from the Sinai consisting of more than 10 people.”
Vilnai said that the IDF and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) were working in close cooperation to thwart the attack and that Israel was also coordinating with Egypt.
On Monday, the IDF went on high alert along Israel’s southern border with Egypt on Monday and significantly bolstered its forces there amid concrete intelligence that Islamic Jihad terrorists were planning to infiltrate into Israel and carry out a similar attack to the one near Eilat 10 days ago.
Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz made the decision to beef up forces along the border late Sunday night and instructed OC Planning Directorate Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel to update the Egyptian military of the decision.
IDF sources said that intelligence indicated that the Islamic Jihad cell had crossed into the Sinai Peninsula from the Gaza Strip and was planning to carry out an attack along one of the roads that runs alongside the border in the coming days. As a result, both Roads 12 and 10 remained closed on Tuesday.
A senior defense official said on Tuesday that Israel was restraining itself and not taking action against the Islamic Jihad in order to not undermine the Egyptian regime.
Israel’s ties with the interim military-controlled regime in Egypt has been tenuous since the attacks near Eilat on August 18 and amid growing calls within Egypt to review the peace treaty between the countries. As a result, Israel decided not to launch a larger offensive against terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?ID=236008&R=R1
30 oct 2012, 14:35 , Respect -
Maria 30 oct 2012, 14:35 , Respect -
Maria 31 aug 2011
IDF beefing up defenses in south after intelligence warnings of terror attack
Members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Popular Resistance Committees are cooperating with Egyptian Islamists, planning to avenge killing of fellow militants during Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip.
Israel is beefing up defenses in the south following intelligence that a number of Palestinian terror groups are operating from within Sinai.
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Benny Gantz ordered the reinforcement of forces all along the border, from the Gaza Strip to the Gulf of Eilat, on Sunday night, following concrete intelligence that a number of cells of militants had entered Sinai through tunnels in Rafah, aiming to carry out attacks on Israeli territory.
The terrorists who identify themselves with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees are cooperating with Egyptian Islamists and are planning to carry attacks to avenge the killing of their members during Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip over the past two weeks.
The intelligence warnings affect various points along the border and include different type of attacks, including penetration of the border and attacks against Israeli vehicles traveling on highways running close to the border.
An attack earlier this month left eight Israelis dead and dozens wounded after terrorists who had tunneled from Gaza into Egypt attacked buses and cars traveling near the border north of Eilat. Defense sources fear a repeat attack.
Another possible scenario is the launching of rockets against Eilat and other Israeli communities from Sinai.
Despite the warnings, the resort town of Eilat does not appear to be showing any signs of stress. Hotels in the city have not registered any losses and some 5,000 visitors are in town for a Mizrahi song festival.
The presence of security and military forces in the city is noticeable but a military source said that the real military presence is felt along the border with Egypt.
"One should remember that the length of the border is 200 kilometers and that the larger concentration of forces is found northwest of Eilat," the source said.
In addition to the additional troops deployed along the border, the IDF has also positioned in place various electronic and other intelligence gathering resources.
Communities near the Egyptian border have received bolstered security, while Routes 10 and 12, which run along the border, have been closed.
The army is also preparing for any possible sea-borne attack on Eilat with naval reinforcements along the gulf, including anchoring Israel's two most advanced missile boats in the port of Eilat.
The two missile boats may also be in the area in anticipation of Iranian naval vessels making their way from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, as was reported yesterday in Tehran.
Calm was kept yesterday all along the border with the Gaza Strip and no rockets or mortars were fired at Israel.
Senior Israeli officials have been leaking intelligence on what is known about the terrorists's plans, both publicly and off the record.
During a visit to an Elbit plant in Sderot, Minister Matan Vilnai made reference to the Ramadan ending-holiday yesterday and said "the Islamic Jihad has been trying for a long time to carry out attacks from Sinai and Id al-Fitr is a good time for them to do so. The defense establishment has intelligence about a plans for an attack by a cell of more than 10 militants. The defense establishment and the IDF are in full readiness in cooperation with Egypt in order to foil these attempts."
Talks have also been held in recent days at the Defense Ministry on how to expedite the procurement of Iron Dome missile defense batteries in order to protect the south against rockets. Discussions are also focused on the construction of a border fence with Egypt, which according to the current plan is due to be completed in the end of 2012.
Rafael, the main contractor in the Iron Dome project, and ELTA, which produces the system's radar of the system, have changed their production priorities in order to provide the air force with a third Iron Dome battery in two weeks and a fourth by year's end.
http://fwd4.me/0AKy
Israeli sends extra warships to Red Sea
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Tuesday it had sent two extra warships to patrol the Red Sea but it downplayed reports that they were connected to an Egyptian sweep of the Sinai peninsula for militants.
A military official said the deployment was routine but declined to say what operational duties the ships were performing.
"I can confirm that there are two naval craft in the Red Sea. This is not unusual," the official told Reuters.
Homefront Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said Israeli security forces were on very high alert in the country's south and that Egyptian troops were acting against gunmen in the Sinai.
"There is a very specific alert that an Islamic Jihad organization wants to carry out an attack on the Egyptian border and we are taking this alert very seriously. It should be emphasized that the Egyptians are also acting," he said.
Brent crude prices extended gains after the reports came out, adding around $1 to trade up $2.09 at $114.00 by 1600 GMT.
Militants killed eight Israelis in a cross-border attack on August 18 that Israel said had come from the Gaza Strip through Sinai. Five Egyptian security men were also killed when Israeli forces pursued some of the militants who had fled to Sinai.
Israel then killed 14 Palestinians in a series of retaliatory air strikes on the Gaza Strip, among them the commander of a militant group it blamed for the border assaults.
The two countries subsequently agreed that Egypt should boost its troop presence in the Sinai.
Egypt had long complained that restrictions imposed by its 1979 peace treaty with Israel made it hard to maintain security in the peninsula. The overthrow in February of Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, who maintained a "cold" peace with Israel, has also caused concern in Tel Aviv.
Separately, Iranian media reported on Tuesday at Iran was sending a submarine and a warship to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, areas where it often has a presence, it says, to ward off piracy by armed Somali gangs.
Suez canal route
In February, after Mubarak's downfall, two Iranian warships passed through the Suez Canal for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution en route to Syria, a maneuver Israel described as "provocative".
Last month warships from Iran's fourth fleet completed a near two-month mission in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, Iranian media reported.
US Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Gary Roughead, said in June he was "not concerned" by reports that Iran has sent submarines to the Red Sea.
Israeli warships are regularly stationed at a naval port in the resort city of Eilat at the northern tip of the Red Sea and patrol the area to the south as part of routine procedure to secure its borders.
The two ships were thought to have passed through the Suez Canal on their way to the Red Sea, although the Israeli military declined to confirm this. The only other way to get to the Red Sea would have been around Africa, a weeks-long voyage.
In June 2009 an Israeli Dolphin class diesel-powered submarine sailed the Suez Canal to the Red Sea as part of a naval drill, defense sources said, describing the unusual maneuver as a show of strategic reach in the face of Iran.
Each German-made Dolphin has 10 torpedo tubes, four of them widened at Israel's request -- to accommodate, some independent analysts believe, nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. But there have been questions about whether these would have the 1,500-km range needed to hit Iran from the Mediterranean.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=417007
Don't test us, Israel army chief warns
JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israel's top military chief has warned Gaza militants not to "test" Israel's strength as troops and police remained on high alert on Wednesday over warnings of a planned attack from Sinai.
"Hamas and other terrorist organisations in Gaza must know that they are wrong to test our strength and that any attempt to harm the citizens of Israel will result in a severe response," chief of staff Benny Gantz said in remarks released by the army.
The military two days earlier raised the level of alert on the Israel-Egypt border and around Gaza following specific intelligence warnings that militants were planning a fresh attack on south Israel along the lines of a series of deadly ambushes on August 18.
"The defence establishment has received a warning that a terror cell in Sinai, comprised of more than 10 terrorists, is going to try and carry out an attack," Home Front Defence Minister Matan Vilnai told Israeli reporters on Tuesday, indicating Islamic Jihad was involved.
Avi Dichter, an Israeli MP and former head of the Shin Bet internal security service, said attacking Israel from Sinai was a way for Gaza militants to hide their involvement in attacks which could complicate the Palestinian bid to seek UN membership next month.
"The moment the terror organisations in the strip understood that direct terror from Gaza makes the campaign they're planning in September at UN very difficult, the alternative is a bypass ... from Gaza to Sinai and from Sinai into Israel," he told Israeli public radio.
The Palestinians are to formally submit their request for membership on September 20 when world leaders begin gathering in New York for the 66th session of the General Assembly.
Although Gaza's Hamas rulers are not involved in the bid, they are keen to see it succeed and unlikely to engage in any overt attack on Israel that would harm the initiative, he said.
On August 18, a group of gunmen crossed the Egyptian border and killed eight Israelis on a desert road which flanks the frontier just north of the Red Sea resort town of Eilat.
Israel blamed the Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees and hit back at them, sparking a week of air strikes and retaliatory cross-border rocket attacks which left 27 Palestinians and an Israeli dead.
A truce agreement signed at the end of last week appears to be holding, but Israeli press reports speculated that Gazan groups were planning fresh attacks to avenge the deaths of those killed in the Israeli strikes.
Two roads which skirt the Egyptian border have been closed to all civilian traffic, and the military was also preparing for the possibility of rocket fire from Sinai towards the Red Sea resort of Eilat, Haaretz newspaper reported.
In a separate development, the navy on Tuesday deployed two missile boats just outside Eilat in what the military said was part of a "routine exercise."
Israeli press reports said it was unlikely the boats' deployment was linked to the high state of alert in the south.
But it came as Tehran's top naval commander said Iran had dispatched a submarine and a warship to the Red Sea on a "patrol mission," state television reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=417092