Gaza Militants have 5,000 Rockets, says Israel

AFP
June 15, 2010

http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/1712/gaza-militants-have-5000-rockets-says-israel

JERUSALEM — Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip have some 5,000 rockets, some of them with a range of up to 40 kilometers (25 miles), the head of Israel's Shin Bet security service said on Tuesday.

"In the Gaza Strip, the terrorist organizations continue to arm themselves, both manufacturing and smuggling (rockets)," Yuval Diskin told the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, officials at the closed door meeting said.

"Hamas and Islamic Jihad together have some 5,000 rockets with ranges up to 40 kilometers," he said, pointing out that 4,000 of them belonged to Gaza's Hamas rulers.

Diskin warned that Hamas also had a few rockets with a greater range that could hit central Israel.

In December 2008, the Jewish state launched a devastating war on the Gaza Strip to stop almost-daily rocket fire on southern Israel in a 22-day operation that left around 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead.

Diskin also spoke about the naval blockade on Gaza, which Israel imposed in 2006 in a bid to prevent the smuggling of weapons into the impoverished Strip.

In recent weeks, Israel has come under huge pressure to lift or ease the blockade to allow in shipments of everyday goods for Gaza's population of 1.5 million.

One of the ideas that has been bandied about is the possibility of allowing goods in to a port in Gaza, which would be thoroughly vetted by international forces before being released.

But Diskin warned that allowing Gaza to operate a port would be a "huge security breach and a dangerous development for Israel," even if the ships were inspected by international forces before unloading. He did not elaborate.

Global pressure over the siege has intensified dramatically since Israeli forces killed nine Turkish activists during a May 31 raid on a fleet of ships carrying aid which was trying to run the naval blockade.

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