Deputy PM calls for Israel to take back Gaza border
Israel must take back control of the Gaza-Egypt border to stop weapons smuggling, Israel’s new deputy prime minister said today.
It was not clear whether the comments by hard-liner Avigdor Lieberman reflect the position of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Israel ceded control of the border in a US-brokered agreement, after leaving the Gaza Strip last year.
Since then, the border has repeatedly been closed over security alerts, and Israel troops have raided the area in search of weapons smuggling tunnels.
The Israeli military has expressed concern about an influx of weapons into Gaza. The border is controlled by Egypt, the Palestinians and EU monitors.
Lieberman told Israel Radio today that Israel cannot rely on others to prevent the influx of weapons.
“We have to take back control of the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphi corridor,” he said, referring to the strip along the border that used to be patrolled by Israeli forces.
“We have heard about tons of weapons, of missiles, we have heard about the smuggling of hundreds of millions of dollars into Gaza, and this is the fuel driving this entire war,” he said.
“They have all failed, the international observers who are sitting at the Rafah crossing, the Egyptians.”
