Skip to main content

Israel Seeks to Curb Weapons Flow to Gaza

Israel is coordinating with Egypt to stop the flow of weapons into the Gaza Strip from Sudan, by way of Libya and Egypt, reports Adnan Abu Amer.
Smoke trails are seen as a rocket is launched from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israel November 17, 2012. Palestinian militants fired a rocket at Tel Aviv on Saturday but it was intercepted in mid-air by a newly deployed Israeli anti-missile battery and caused no casualties or damage, police said. REUTERS/Majdi Fathi (GAZA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY POLITICS) - RTR3AJ3H
Read in 

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.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.