Israel busts shipment of military gear sent to Gaza

Terrorists in Gaza have been using the Israeli postal service as a new method to smuggle contraband into Gaza, and today’s bust was the latest success by Israel to thwart these attempts.

Israeli authorities on Wednesday uncovered and seized “a significant” amount of goods which can be used for terrorism on their way to Gaza.

The shipment included security cameras, 14 small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and their components, binoculars, laser pointers for weapons, communications equipment and electronic boards, tasers, weapons components, diving watches equipped with flashlights, flippers, miniature cameras, GoPro cameras, DVR cameras, banned electronic components, satellite communications equipment, surveillance cameras, telephone switchboards, Wi-Fi antenna, packages of motion sensors, routers and slingshots.

Over the past few weeks, Ministry of Defense Crossing Authority officials, together with the Shin Bet (Israel’s Security Agency), have uncovered hundreds of smuggling attempts using the postal service, on their way to Gaza through the Erez Crossing.

“The discovery was unusual, even to those familiar with the most creative smuggling attempts and methodologies,” the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

“Today’s discovery is a demonstration of the heavy pressure being put on smugglers and terrorist operatives” by Israel’s security system, the statement added.

The materials were confiscated and an investigation has been launched to locate those involved in the smuggling attempts.

Ceaseless Smuggling Attempts

Israel’s security services have exposed and blocked several avenues used by terrorists for smuggling, by land and by sea, forcing them to develop new ones, and now Israel is fighting the smuggling of potential weapons via mail.

Israel’s combined security agencies have been successful in thwarting more than 500 attempts to smuggle illicit materials from Israel into the Gaza Strip since the beginning of 2015. Over 280 trucks have been confiscated as a result of illegal activity over the course of 2014.

In many of the incidents, the smuggled materials are meant for Hamas’ rocket production program or its military build-up.

Most recently, Israeli authorities were successful in thwarting an attempt to smuggle pipes used to produce mortars and rockets and tens of motors used by Hamas to dig its terror tunnels.

Earlier in the month, Israel’s police announced it had thwarted an attempt to smuggle 60,000 springs used in the production of grenades, mortars and rockets, before they arrived at their destination in Gaza.

Israeli authorities were also successful in foiling an attempt to smuggle chemicals into the Gaza Strip, which would have been used to produce hundreds of long-range rockets.

In February, they thwarted an attempt to smuggle several drones into Gaza.

Since Israel decimated Hamas’ terror infrastructure during Operation Protective Edge, Hamas has been working relentlessly to rehabilitate its networks and replenish its weapons stockpiles.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

Erez CrossingGazaHamasShin BetSmuggling