The last war in the Gaza Strip didn't come to an end until Egypt promised Israel its unremitting efforts to stop the flow of smuggled weapons to Hamas, out of fear of Hamas's growing military strength in advance of the next flare-up. Visits have been exchanged between Cairo and Tel Aviv to discuss security efforts in this regard, the most recent of which occurred a few days ago.

From Tel Aviv’s perspective, Cairo is undergoing a "trial phase" in efforts to prevent the proliferation of long-range missiles in Gaza. Part of the weaponry used against Israel came from capitals outside its borders and had traveled thousands of kilometers, without any efforts by Egypt to prevent their smuggling. Egypt remained inactive even though the US and Israel had anticipated that the new regime in Cairo would fiercely combat arms smuggling through its territory into the Gaza Strip, since Egypt had prevented three arms smuggling operations into Gaza from Iran and Libya.

Wide spaces

Although Israel has remained very discreet about the smuggling routes, it claims that a fair amount of the weapons smuggled into Gaza come from distant places. Israel wonders how they reached the Sinai, traversed wide expanses and entered the Gaza Strip — traveling a total distance of more than 1200 miles.