Hizbullah Apparently Trying To Smuggle Weapons Into Gaza
The Iranian-backed Hizbullah terrorist organization may be utilizing “creative ways” to attempt to smuggle weapons and rockets to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to informed Middle Eastern security officials.
The officials did not provide any further details about the alleged weapons shipments.
Last month, the same security officials told this reporter of Hizbullah plans to smuggle weapons into Gaza. One week later, the Israel Air Force carried out a surgical strike on a warehouse in Sudan allegedly housing long-range missiles destined for Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to reports.
It is unclear how weapons shipments would be able to get past Israel’s naval blockage or the Israeli and Egyptian bombardments of weapons-smuggling tunnels.
The “creative ways” information may be a reference to a shipment of 100 tons of so-called humanitarian aid that Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said has been waiting for days in Egypt for transfer to Gaza.
Abdollahian accused Egypt of delays in issuing permits to bring Iranian aid to Gaza from the Egypt border.
Reuters reported Egypt’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling Iran’s claims of aid delays “unfounded.”
Egypt Frustrated With Kerry’s Cease-Fire Attempts
Secretary of State John Kerry’s attempts to sideline Egypt in Israel-Hamas cease-fire talks has forced the Egyptian government to move closer to Hamas’s positions in Gaza, according to an Egyptian official involved with the truce talks who spoke to WorldNetDaily on condition of anonymity.
The Egyptian official seconded the Israeli government’s reported frustration over Kerry’s attempts to broker a cease-fire, with Egypt believing Kerry’s truce proposals would have served Hamas’s anti-Israel agenda.
“Kerry acts more like a first-year college student taking a course on the Middle East than a diplomat who knows what’s going on,” said the Egyptian official.
The official confirmed Israel’s version of events as published last Sunday in the country’s Haaretz newspaper.
In an article that has created a diplomatic row between the U.S. and Israel, Haaretz published what it said was a final version of Kerry’s cease-fire proposal presented to Israel Friday that made scarce reference to the Jewish state’s security needs.
The proposal called for a seven-day humanitarian cease-fire that banned the Israeli military from targeting Hamas tunnels from which Hamas has attempted numerous attacks during the past few days.
Kerry’s proposal also did not call for Gaza to be demilitarized, one of Israel’s baseline requests.
The draft reportedly met many of Hamas’s key demands, including the opening of the Egypt-Gaza border, passage of goods, and payment of the salaries of members of the Hamas government.
NBC Blames Israel First, Then Quietly Backtracks
After first squarely blaming Israel for a strike on the Gaza Strip’s main hospital last Monday, NBC News has altered the headline and content of an online article to temper Israel’s alleged involvement without informing readers it made any changes to the piece.
Earlier Monday, the opening sentence of the NBC News story read: “Israeli strikes hit within yards of Gaza’s main hospital as well as at a refugee camp on Monday, leaving at least 30 dead and wounded.”
After the Israel Defense Forces, however, announced that the hospital and Palestinian refugee camp were both struck by failed rocket attacks launched by Gaza terrorists aimed at Israeli neighborhoods near Gaza, NBC quietly changed its article.
The lead sentence now reads: “Missiles or rockets struck within yards of Gaza’s main hospital and a nearby refugee camp Monday, leaving at least 30 dead and wounded.”
The second sentence, not present in the original piece, now states: “The Israeli military denied reports its forces were responsible for the strikes, saying they were the result of rockets misfired by Palestinian militants.”