Gaza Becoming Lebanon, Warns Israeli Security Chief
Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Middle East Correspondent Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - Israel Security Services (Shin Bet) chief Yuval Diskin Tuesday warned that the Gaza Strip will soon pose as big a threat to Israel as Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon did two months ago. In a briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Diskin said that Palestinian terrorists are smuggling huge numbers of weapons and even personnel into Gaza via the Sinai Peninsula. Ha'aretz quoted Diskin as telling the committee members, "If we don't move to counter this smuggling, it will continue and create a situation in Gaza similar to the one in southern Lebanon." He noted that many of the same kinds of short and medium-range missiles used by Hezbollah against northern Israel earlier in the month were now in the possession of Gaza-based terrorists. Additionally, Diskin said Hamas was quickly learning the lessons of the recent Lebanon war, and building a large network of bunkers and defensive positions in Gaza on the Hezbollah model. The security boss warned that the situation represents a long-term strategic threat to Israel's southern regions that will have to be dealt with sooner or later.
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