Israel: Palestinian missiles' range extended to 40 km
www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/06/front2453748.109722222.html

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, January 12, 2006

TEL AVIV - An Israelis military report said Palestinian insurgency groups
have obtained the technology to extend the range of their missiles to up to
40 kilometers.

Israeli officials said a review by the military and Israel Security Agency
asserted that Hamas and Islamic Jihad have acquired technology and expertise
from Iran and Hizbullah to extend the Kassam-class missile to 40 kilometers.
They said the two groups have already succeeded in extending the range of
their missiles to about 14 kilometers.

Off cials said the increase in Palestinian missile capability was achieved
in wake of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in September 2005, Middle
East Newsline reported. They said that over the last four months, Hizbullah
has sent scores of Palestinians trained in missile and rocket development to
the Gaza Strip.

"Over the last few months, there has been a significant leap in Palestinian
rocket development," an official said. "It's safe to say that they have
achieved a breakthrough, although we have not seen its full extent yet."

[On Thursday the London-based Al Hayat reported that four Palestinians
captured on Jan. 7 while trying to leave the Lebanese city of Tripoli aboard
a boat full of weapons were members of an Al Qaida group that sought to
attack Israel. The newspaper quoted Lebanese sources as saying that the four
detainees were members of Usbat Al Ansar and had planned to attack an
Israeli installation from the Mediterranean Sea.]

These Palestinians, trained in a range of Soviet-origin rockets, have served
as advisers for Hamas and Jihad missile and rocket programs and resolved
such problems as propellant, navigation and structure, officials said. They
said the advisers returned to the Gaza Strip via Egypt, often with
components required for missile enhancement.

Officials said that neither Egypt nor the Palestinian Authority has halted
the infiltration of advisers and smuggling of missile components. They said
Palestinian weapons smuggling has benefited from cooperation from both
Egyptian and PA border officers.
"Egyptians and Palestinians need to make every possible effort in order to
reduce the phenomenon until it entirely ends," Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz
said on Wednesday.

On Jan. 10, NSA director Yuval Diskin told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and
Defense Committee that Palestinian weapons smuggling from Egypt has risen
drastically since the Israeli withdrawal. He said the influx of weapons from
Sinai to the Gaza Strip has risen 10-fold.

At the same time, Diskin said, Palestinan insurgency groups have acquired
the expertise to significantly increase the range of their missiles by
mid-2006. He said the Kassam missiles produced in the Gaza Strip have a
range of between 10 and 40 kilometers and insurgency groups have sought to
transfer expertise and development to the West Bank.

"If the Palestinians are to receive technology assistance outside of Gaza,
it would only take a number of months for the terror groups
to succeed in significantly improving their rocket range," Diskin said.
"There are efforts to establish independent systems to manufacture weapons,
including Kassams [in the West Bank]."