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IDF officials identified Hamas’s struggle in Gaza, after more than two years of war have left it without stocks of standard explosives, to obtain weapons as well as additional equipment.
The IDF announced it will deploy military police at crossings along the border fence between Israel and Gaza, in an attempt to prevent smuggling by inspecting military vehicles and the belongings of Defense Ministry contractors operating in the Yellow Line area.
IDF officials identified Hamas’s struggle in Gaza, after more than two years of war have left it without stocks of standard explosives, to obtain weapons as well as additional equipment intended for its future military buildup.
The Southern Command, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), and police understand that Hamas’s need for equipment is driving it to seek out actors inside Israel who will help supply what it lacks, including by establishing contact with Bedouin or Arab Israeli elements who have ties to contacts in Gaza. From there, the process develops through the construction of smuggling routes, some of which rely on soldiers, contractor employees, and officials operating in the Yellow Line area around Gaza.
On Monday, the police informed the Southern District Court that the State Attorney’s Office would file dozens of indictments against 16 suspects allegedly involved in smuggling to Gaza. As of now, the police, the Shin Bet, and the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division are handling two significant smuggling cases into Gaza. In parallel, there are investigations into the removal of weapons from IDF storage sites along the Yellow Line into Israel, with some of them ending up in criminal hands.
In recent weeks, Southern Command, under Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor and the Gaza Division 143, under Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram has led a move to tighten supervision of movement at crossings between Israel and Gaza.
HUNDREDS OF packets of cigarettes being smuggled. (credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
There are two types of crossings along the border with Gaza. The first are regulated crossings for the transfer of goods, operated by the Defense Ministry, including the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings. Oversight at these crossings is regulated and strict, and includes technological measures to prevent smuggling. The second type of crossings is “operational gates,” gates along the fence through which IDF forces, contractors, and suppliers of military equipment cross from Israel into the Yellow Line area.
It was decided to install technological systems at the crossings to monitor entries. It was also decided that the gates would remain locked around the clock, and only when entry is required would a sector patrol arrive with the keys.
Only after a name check would be conducted and cross-referenced with the sector command center list, confirming that everyone in the vehicle is approved and that their entry into the Yellow Line has been coordinated, would authorization be given for the patrol to open the gate.
Southern Command allocates military police to West Bank crossings, Gaza border
In parallel, Southern Command decided to deploy military police forces trained in inspections to crossings in the West Bank and along the Gaza border. The aim is to increase supervision by conducting inspections of vehicles entering and exiting, exactly as the IDF did during the period when it held the security zone in Lebanon, or at entry crossings such as the Fatima Gate in Metula or at the Rosh Hanikra crossing, where military police carried out checks to prevent smuggling.
At the same time, the IDF says this is a preventive activity that will be prioritized by the Shin Bet, the police, the Intelligence Directorate, and the Defense Ministry.
The IDF is determined to act forcefully against attempts to develop smuggling routes from Israel to Gaza through the crossings, based on the understanding that Hamas will continue in the coming period to try to induce Israelis to cross the lines and smuggle into Gaza tobacco products, cigarettes, drugs, mobile phones, drones, explosive materials, weapons, and more.
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