[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: "no weapons have been smuggled through the
crossing since it was opened, and that all weapons that were discovered were
destroyed" = as far as the EU is concerned, weapons only exist if they are
discovered. Something for those who want to extend the operation to other
locations to consider.]

EU: No arms being smuggled to Gaza through Rafah crossing
By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press Last update - 13:30 18/01/2007
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/815070.html

The head of the European mission monitoring operations at the Egypt-Gaza
border said Thursday that no weapons have been smuggled through the crossing
since it was opened, and that all weapons that were discovered were
destroyed, Israel Radio reported.

Lt. Gen. Pietro Pistolese as saying urged Israel on Thursday to stop
restricting operations there, saying disruptions only promote "extremism and
terror."

Since the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in June, Pistolese
said, the crossing has been open only 39 days. During that time 80,000
people have passed through it, he said, though 550,000 could have used it if
it had been open the entire period.

Israel, citing security alerts, has kept the Rafah terminal - Gaza's main
gateway to the outside world - closed for about 80 percent of the time since
Shalit's capture.

The European monitors at Rafah were deployed as part of a U.S.-brokered
agreement of November 2005 that was to ease movement in and out of Gaza. The
agreement was reached two months after Israel withdrew from the coastal
strip.

Pistolese said it is counterproductive to deprive Gaza's 1.4 million people
of access to the rest of the world.

"It is vital that there is a return to normal operations at Rafah as soon as
possible," Pistolese told a conference at the Netanya Academic College.
Keeping the border closed "only only encourages more people to resort to
extremism and terror," said Pistolese, an Italian.