IMRA Newsletter
Egyptian Refusal to stop Smuggling forces Israel to launch major Operation in Rafah
IDF troops clash with Palestinian Gunmen
10 October 2003
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/348240.html
Two Palestinians were reported killed while Israel Defense Forces advanced deep into the Rafah refugee camp in the sourthern Gaza Strip on Friday, in an operation meant to expose and seal tunnels used to smuggle arms from Egypt into the Strip. At least 15 Palestinians were reported injured. No information on the circumstances of the deaths was immediately available.
Security sources said Palestinians were attempting to acquire missiles that could knock out tanks and aircraft, weapons they have not used thus far.
These would include Stinger shoulder-mounted anti-aircraft missiles that could shoot down the attack helicopters Israel often uses in operations in Gaza, the sources said.
Stinger missiles could also threaten Israeli warplanes or civilian aircraft flying close to Gaza.
A large Israeli armed force rolled into the refugee camp on the Gaza-Egypt border early Friday on a mission to destroy tunnels used for smuggling arms, witnesses and military sources said.
Witnesses said a large number of tanks and other armored vehicles entered Rafah from two directions. They were joined by special forces, including engineering units with dogs trained to uncover tunnels.
A gun battle erupted between soldiers and Palestinian gunmen, but there was no report of casualties.
Residents said the IDF destroyed three houses near the border and fired machine guns to drive families away from others. Explosions could be heard, possibly IDF forces destroying tunnels, or Palestinian militants throwing explosives at tanks, they said.
A military commander at the scene said that weapons smuggled in from Egypt to Gaza eventually make their way to the West Bank, so "we had no choice but to strike deep against the tunnels."
Israeli military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israel had intelligence warnings that Palestinians were planning to use tunnels under the border to smuggle in weapons that could have a strategic impact on the three-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but the Egyptians were not taking steps to stop them.
Israel has mounted dozens of smaller missions during the conflict, aimed at uncovering and destroying the tunnels, turning the Rafah refugee camp into a constant battlefield. However, the Friday operation was larger in scope because of the threat of the new range of weapons set to be smuggled, the sources said.
Also, the sources said, the Palestinians were trying to smuggle Katyusha rockets, which would have the range to hit Israeli cities near Gaza. During the conflict, the Palestinians have been aiming homemade mortars and rockets at Israeli towns and settlements.