Israel Intelligence Official: Hamas Rockets Can Reach Tel Aviv

A senior Israeli intelligence official warned Sunday that “Hamas rulers in the Gaza Strip have rockets that can travel 80 kilometers (50 miles) - a longer range than previously reported, which would put the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv within range of its launchers.” The official blamed Egypt, saying it was not doing enough to stem smuggling through a network of tunnels along the relatively short border between its Sinai desert and the Palestinian territory. An Egyptian security official reached for comment by Haaretz maintained that Egypt was combating the smuggling successfully. The Israeli intelligence official said that Hamas is "making very big efforts to build up their military capabilities ... building up their rocket capabilities in the Gaza Strip, and all this is happening because of one important thing: the smuggling of weapons through Egypt to the Gaza Strip." "Most of the tunnels that are used to smuggle these rockets and explosives and other weapons are in an area of three to four kilometers, or up to 2.5 miles," said the official, who is privy to high-level intelligence information and briefed foreign correspondents on condition that he not be identified. "We see it in our intelligence. We have photos of this. In many places we can show photos of Egyptian soldiers located less than 20 meters (yards) from the opening of a tunnel, and the tunnel is operating under his eyes, under his control, and nobody is doing anything about it."Egypt can stop all this smuggling of weapons within 24 hours if they want to do it,” he said. Israeli lawmaker Arieh Eldad, a member of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, who has access to classified material, confirmed the official's assessment. "Egypt is not a country that large quantities of weapons can enter without the authorities knowing," he told The Associated Press, charging that Egypt allows Hamas to acquire arms in exchange for the Islamic fighters leaving Egypt alone. "They could easily train police to look for the smugglers and they don't," Eldad said. The assessment indicated that Hamas has improved its capabilities in recent months. Past assessments have said Hamas rocket range was closer to 60 or 70 kilometers, or roughly 40 to 45 miles. On Sunday Channel 10 TV showed video of Israel's Iron Dome system knocking down rockets. The system is designed to protect Israel from rocket fire from Gaza and Lebanon. However, deployment has been delayed several times and now appears at least months away. The Israeli intelligence official also said that Hamas' rival, the Palestinian Authority, was making a genuine and successful effort to maintain security and prevent attacks on “Israel” in the West Bank. But he warned it was dependent on progress in the currently stalled peace talks with Israel - and on the presence in office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. The official added that Israeli intelligence believes that it remains the long-range goal of Hamas to destroy Israel and to establish an Islamic caliphate, not only in the Middle East but in Europe as well.