HAMAS BUILDING ARMY IN GAZA

IDF: Hamas Building Army in Gaza - Hanan Greenberg
"In the two years since the IDF left the Philadelphi Corridor (along the border between Gaza and Egypt), Hamas has leapt forward by a generation," a senior IDF officer said in a briefing. The relative quiet in Gaza in the past month has been maintained by Hamas only in order to be able to build up its forces and arsenal more easily, he said. "Sooner rather than later, there will be Katyusha rockets in Gaza....Katyushas are only a matter of time." The officer said Hamas forces currently number 12-13,000 in four trained divisions. "An additional element is the hundreds of operatives traveling to Iran in order to acquire new (military) knowledge to bring back to Gaza."

"The Gaza Strip, which used to be surrounded by the IDF, has become porous," he explained. Arrangements for the operation of the Gaza border crossings, agreed upon when IDF forces left the area in 2005, are not being implemented because Palestinian forces ignore them and European forces at the crossings are not effective, he said. (Ynet News)

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A senior military source said the Philadelphi Route is entirely out of control. Smuggling has transformed into importing. (Ha'aretz)