On September 22, 2005, Diskin noted that a massive amount of weapons and ammunition has been smuggled into the Gaza Strip from Sinai, including RPG launchers and anti-tank rockets. According to Diskin, thousands of automatic weapons and 1.5 million rounds of ammunition were circulating in the Gaza Strip.

In May 2006, IDF Chief-of-Staff Dan Halutz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Arab terrorists from Gaza were able to bypass the elaborate high-tech security barrier separating Gaza from Israel by infiltrating the country via the border with Egypt.

According to Halutz, the Israeli-Egyptian border between the Negev and the Sinai desert (hundreds of miles long and mostly unfenced) has become a haven for drug smugglers and criminals. In addition, the border is now a focal point for terrorist operations. The Chief IDF Operations Officer informed the committee that terrorists are smuggling untold quantities of weapons and ammunition into Gaza through tunnels dug under the Egyptian border and via the sea. However, it should be noted that IDF patrols have reduced terrorist and criminal activity along the border by 50%.

In June 2006, Diskin told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the amount of weapons and explosives smuggled into the Gaza Strip from the Sinai since the disengagement (September 2005) is larger than the total amount imported since the Six Day War. Items included 11 tons of TNT, three million bullets, 19,600 rifles, 1,600 pistols, 65 RPG launchers, 430 RPGs and approximately 10 shoulder rocket launchers.

Diskin also noted that Egypt has not managed to successfully combat "World Jihad" cells operating within the Sinai. As such, the peninsula is flooded with weapons smugglers. In August 2006, Diskin reiterated that the "Philadelphi Route [had been] breached...and a tons of explosives and hundreds of weapons have entered...USD 1.5 million has been smuggled in through Rafah by the Hamas Agriculture Ministry, and terror experts have also entered."

Later that month, Diskin informed the Committee that Palestinian terrorist organizations were studying the Lebanese-Israeli war. Diskin also noted the West Bank had become increasingly violent, especially in Samaria. Apparently, the intelligence community has found it difficult to control the area and collect information. According to Diskin, "Samaria has become the land of Islamic Jihad following the disengagement."

Diskin also voiced concern over the fact that weapons smuggling through the Rafah crossing has increased exponentially since the pullout and added "Rafah will soon be the garden of Eden of weapons smuggling."

Diskin warned that after three to five years of this kind of weapons transfer, Israel will face a situation similar to south Lebanon.

"At this point, anybody who wants to smuggle something through the Philadelphi route can apparently do so...You can smuggle anything through Philadelphi except maybe a tank or plane."

In November 2006, Diskin told the Committee that 33 tons of military-grade high explosives, 20,000 assault rifles, 3,000 pistols, 6,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition, 38 long-range Qassam missiles, 12 shoulder-fired, anti-aircraft guided missiles, 95 anti-tank rocket launchers, 410 anti-tank rockets and 20 precision-guided anti-rank missiles have been smuggled into Gaza since the disengagement.

2006 smuggling statistics:

• 28 tons of standard-grade explosives (6 tons in 2005)
• 14,000 assault rifles (9,300 in 2005)
• 5 million armament accessories (2 million in 2005)
• 150 RPG rockets
• 65 grenade launchers
• 10 upgraded anti-tank missiles
• 10 anti-aircraft missiles

In August 2007, Deputy Shin Bet Chief "Y" noted that arms smuggling in the Gaza Strip had increased. Since June 2007, 40 tons of weapons were smuggled into the Strip – approximately one half of the total amount of armaments smuggled into the area since Israel's July 2005 disengagement. Since August 2007, the defense establishment has recorded five major incidents of arms smuggling through Egypt, during which 13 tons of explosives and 150 RPG launchers were imported.

In October 2007, Yuval Diskin stated that approximately 1,650 RPG rockets and some 6,000 bombs have been smuggled into Gaza since January 2007. In addition, an estimated 73 tons of explosives have been smuggled into Gaza through tunnels since June. Millions of bullets for light weapons and tons of potassium, used to manufacture bombs, have also crossed the Gaza-Sinai border. 4

Following Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, Israeli officials expressed concern that Egypt's security presence along the 8.2-mile Philadelphi Route was inadequate and was allowing smugglers to bring advanced weaponry into the Gaza Strip. Indeed, the tunnels, which have been used for over two decades to bring arms, commercial goods, and people from Egypt into Gaza, were being used to ship anti-tank weapons, Katyusha rockets, and shoulder-held anti-aircraft missiles.

However, Egypt claimed that Israel was acting to "sabotage" U.S.-Egyptian relations by demanding that the United States condition its annual $1.3 billion in military assistance on Egypt’s efforts to thwart smuggling. Section 690 of P.L. 110-161, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, withholds the obligation of $100 million in Foreign Military Financing until the Secretary of State certifies, among other things, that Egypt has taken concrete steps to "detect and destroy the smuggling network and tunnels that lead from Egypt to Gaza."

In December 2007, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni stated in her testimony before a Knesset committee that the Egyptian failure to secure the border with Gaza "is terrible, problematic and damages the ability to make progress in the peace process."

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak responded by noting that "Tzipi Livni crossed a red line with me...It's very easy to sit in an office and criticize our performance on the ground...This works to dampen the atmosphere. Relations with Israel are very important to me -- do not ruin them...If you disapprove of the way we handle arms smuggling, you're welcome to do the job yourselves."

In the fall of 2007, a Department of Defense delegation toured the Gaza-Egypt border, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers drafted a geological assessment of the underground smuggling tunnels. The U.S. government has offered to allocate $23 million of Egypt’s annual Foreign Military Financing (FMF) toward the procurement of more advanced detection equipment, such as sensors and remote-controlled robotic devices. 5

1. On May 9, 2004, IDF Southern Gaza Brigade commander, Colonel "Pinkie" Suarez, stated on Israel Radio that a signficant amount of armaments, including anti-aircraft missiles and Katyusha rockets stored in the Sinai Desert were slated to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip. According to IDF Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Moshe Ya'alon, the 12 kilometer range Katyusha rockets could upset the military balance in the coastal area. Jonathan Lis, "IDF: Weapons Tunnels To Gaza Strip Dug From Egyptian Army Bases," Ha'aretz, August 11, 2003, as translated from Hebrew by IMRA; Arieh O'Sullivan "Steinitz: Egypt Wants to See Us Bleed," Jerusalem Post, September 2, 2004; "Israel: Egypt Knows Exactly What's Being Smuggled & Can Stop It," IMRA, August 24, 2004; "Anti-aircraft Missiles & Katyusha Rockets Held in Sinai for Palestinians - IDF Southern Gaza Brigade Commander Suarez," Ha'aretz, June 9, 2004; "IDF: Palestinians Trying to Smuggle Anti-Aircraft Missiles," Jerusalem Post, May 16, 2004.



2. "Ariel O'Sullivan, "Steinitz Slams Philadelphi Deal," Jerusalem Post, August 25, 2005; Amos Harel, Yoav Stern and Avi Issacharoff, "Israeli DM Peretz Denies Egyptian Plans to Deploy 5,000 Troops on Border with Gaza," Ha'aretz, October 29, 2006; "CORRECTED-Egypt Moves 5,000 Troops Near Gaza Border," Reuters, October 28, 2006; Hanan Greenberg, "Shin Bet Chief: Hamas Using Calm to Build Up Strength," YnetNews, February 5, 2007; Yaakov Katz, "Diskin: Egypt Is Not Active Enough," Jerusalem Post, February 5, 2007.



3. "Palestinian Terrorists Pour Tens of Millions into a New Arms Stockpile," DebkaFile, September 17, 2005).



4. "Diskin Paints an Ominous Picture Concerning Weapons Smuggling into Gaza," IsraelNationalNews, September 22, 2005; "Egyptians and Palestinians Make a Mockery of Their Accords with Israel," DebkaFile, September 14, 2005; "DEBKAfile: The Palestinians Poured their Entire Sinai Arms Dumps into Gaza, Taking Advantage of Four Days of Unrestricted Border Transit," DebkaFile, September 15, 2005; "PA Imports Hundreds of Rockets From Egypt," Middle East Newsline, January 3, 2006; Ezra HaLevi, "IDF Launches Air Strikes in Gaza," IsraelNationalNews, December 27, 2005; DebkaFile; Scott Shiloh, "IDF Chief: Terrorists Crossing into Israel from Egypt," IsraelNationalNews, May 23, 2006; Sheera Claire Frenkel, "Diskin: 11 Tons of TNT Reached Gaza Since Pullout," Jerusalem Post, June 6, 2006; Gideon Alon, "Shin Bet Chief: First Signs of World Jihad Visible in West Bank," Ha'aretz, June 6, 2006; "Ilan Marciano, "Diskin: Gaza could become Lebanon," YnetNews, August 20, 2006; "Sheera Claire Frankel, "Diskin: Weapons Smuggling Into Gaza Has Skyrocketed," Jerusalem Post, August 29, 2006; "Behind the Headlines: The Threat to Israeli Civilians from the Gaza Strip," Israeli Foreign Ministry, November 21, 2006; Hanan Greenberg, "Shin Bet Chief: Hamas Using Calm to Build Up Strength," YnetNews, February 5, 2007; Yaakov Katz, "Diskin: Egypt Is Not Active Enough," Jerusalem Post, February 5, 2007; Rony Sofer, "'Hamas Planning Mega-Terror Attack in Israel'," YnetNews, August 26, 2007; Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, "Government Concerned over Egypt-Hamas Ties," Ha'aretz, October 23, 2007.



5. Jeremy M. Sharp, "The Egypt-Gaza Border and its Effect on Israeli-Egyptian Relations," CRS Report for Congress, February 1, 2008.

Additional Information and Contact Details