Monday, October 01, 2007
Elder of ZiyonHamas transferred a fugitive al Qaida member to Egypt on Sunday, in return for Egypt's opening the Rafah Crossing to dozens of Hamas and Islamic Jihad members, Israel Radio quoted Palestinian news agency Ma'an as reporting on Monday.The EUBAM Rafah website has not mentioned this gross violation of existing agreements, even as it pretends to still be responsible for the Rafah crossing.
On Sunday, Israel was taken by surprise when Egypt abruptly allowed 85 Palestinians, most of them Hamas members, who had been stranded in Egypt since the Islamist group seized control of the Gaza Strip in mid-June to return home.
The unexpected move contradicted agreements Israel had with Egypt regarding the Rafah Crossing.
Sources in the defense establishment estimated that many of the group had undergone training in Iran and Syria.
The EU observer mission that oversees crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip was not alerted to the Rafah Crossing's opening and none of the observers were in position when the Palestinians returned to Gaza.
There was still no information on whether the returning Palestinians smuggled any arms or money into the Gaza Strip.
Once again, an agreement hammered out between Israel and Palestinian Arabs has been shattered by the PalArabs and abetted by the EU. And Israeli security is jeopardized because the world allows the Arabs to do what they want while they criticize Israel for attempting to protect her citizens.
If the EU does not assert their control over Rafah immediately, Israel has every right to take over the Philadelphi corridor to stop the consistent smuggling of weapons and terrorists through Rafah. Every hour that the EU refuses to address this issue shows that the EU is less and less relevant in trying to involve itself in the Middle East.
UPDATE: Both Hamas and Egypt deny the report. Which doesn't affect its believability one iota.
