ISRAEL OKAYS 25 RUSSIAN-MADE ARMORED VEHICLES FOR P.A.

Israel Okays 25 Russian-Made Armored Vehicles for PA (AFP)
Israel on Friday authorized the Palestinian Authority to import 25 Russian-made armored vehicles to the West Bank, an Israeli defense ministry official said Saturday. The delivery, which has been pending for months, was approved during a visit to the region by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Moscow has proposed providing the Palestinians with 50 armored vehicles over two years, but Israel can veto the second shipment if it fears that the vehicles may fall into the hands of militants.

IRAN GAVE SYRIA $1B FOR ARMS PURCHASES

Iran Gave Syria Over $1 Billion for Arms Purchases - Barak Ravid (Ha'aretz)

Iran is making huge efforts to upgrade the Syrian army and provided Syria with more than $1 billion to buy surface-to-surface missiles, rockets, anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft systems.

Syria is buying more missiles than tanks, on the assumption that attacking the Israeli home front would deter Israel and help to determine the war.

The London-based Asharq Alawsatnewspaper reported in July 2007, during Iranian President Ahmadinejad's visit to Damascus, that he promised Bashar Assad that Iran would finance Russian and North Korean weapons deals for $1 billion.

In exchange, Syria reportedly undertook not to proceed with the peace process with Israel.

Israel is also concerned over Iran's continuing weapon deliveries to Hizbullah via Syria. Recently, Iran sent Hizbullah a number of deliveries, including a large amount of explosives.

SYRIA STILL SUPPLYING HEZBOLLAH WITH WEAPONS

Peres to Lavrov: Syria still supplying Hizbullah with arms (JPost)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Israel on Thursday, after reportedly saying in Damascus that a touted peace conference in Moscow would deal with the Golan Heights - only to be told by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that he is not even convinced of the utility of such a get-together for the Palestinian track.

Israel has roundly rejected past attempts to revive the idea of an international peace conference dealing with the Golan. According to the Prime Minister's Office, Lavrov raised the conference idea with Olmert, who remained noncommittal even on the Palestinian track....

Syria also came up during a meeting Lavrov held with President Shimon Peres, with Peres saying that Damascus was continuing to transfer weapons to Hizbullah in Lebanon, and that this transfer of weapons called into question the sincerity of Syria's signals regarding peace negotiations.

HEZBOLLAH HAS 30,000 ROCKETS

THE U.N. DID A GREAT JOB OF DISARMING THEM AD STOPPING THE FLOW OF WEAPONS.

Israel Says Hizbullah Has 30,000 Rockets - Edith M. Lederer (AP/Washington Post)
Israel has said Hizbullah is rearming and has an arsenal that includes 10,000 long-range rockets and 20,000 short-range rockets in southern Lebanon, according to a report from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

HAMAS USING U.S. AND IRANIAN WEAPONS AGAINST ISRAEL

Hamas Using U.S. Weapons Against IDF - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
According to Palestinian sources in Gaza, most of the gunmen fighting the IDF over the past few days are members of Hamas' armed wing, Izaddin Kassam, with 15,000 members divided into four brigades.

The Hamas gunmen were using many American-made arms seized from the Fatah-controlled PA security forces in June.

Other groups involved in the fighting include Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees, and some splinter factions of Fatah's Aksa Martyrs Brigades, operating in coordination with Hamas. Altogether, these groups have fewer than 1,500 gunmen in Gaza.

Hamas is hoping that once the fighting is over, it will be able to declare "victory, as Hizbullah did after the war in 2006," said a Palestinian source.

Long-range rockets fired from Gaza are Iranian: Israel army (AFP)
The Israeli army on Monday said that all the long-range rockets fired by Gaza militants against southern Israel during the latest round of violence were manufactured in arch-foe Iran.
Speaking to the parliament's powerful foreign affairs and defence committee, a senior military intelligence official said that over 20 Katyusha-type rockets, also known as Grad, were fired against Israel since last Thursday.

"We are talking about regular Iranian-made rockets," an official quoted the intelligence official as saying.

The 122-millimetre rockets have a range of about 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) and carry a large payload which caused heavy damage to buildings in the southern coastal town of Ashkelon, which bore the brunt of the Grad rocket fire.

SEE ALSO: GAZA: RPGS FOUND IN MOSQUES (Atlas Shrugs)

U.S. TO SELL $20B IN WEAPONS TO SAUDIS

U.S. Plans Sale of 900 Sophisticated Missiles to Saudi Arabia
The Bush administration notified Congress Monday that it would sell 900 sophisticated satellite-guided missiles to Saudi Arabia as part of a $20 billion arms sale. The administration is worried that some in Congress might object, since the missiles are some of the most accurate produced by the U.S. (New York Times)

See also Israel to Get "Smarter" U.S.-Made Bombs than Saudis - Dan Williams
The U.S. has agreed in principle to provide Israel with better "smart bombs" than those it plans to sell Saudi Arabia, senior Israeli security sources said Sunday. The Bush administration last year proposed supplying Gulf Arab states with some $20 billion in new weapons, including Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) bomb kits for the Saudis. Two Israeli security sources said the U.S. offered military aid grants worth $30 billion over the next decade, as well as an "understanding in principle" that future JDAM sales to Israel would include advanced technologies not on offer to Saudi Arabia. "The agreement is that Israel's qualitative edge will be preserved," one source said. (Reuters)

HUMANITARIAN EXPLOSIVES

More humanitarian explosives (Elder of Zyion)

From YNet:

Security workers of the Israel Airport Authority uncovered 2 tons of material used for the manufacturing of Qassam rockets and explosives inside a truck attempting to enter the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing.

This is the second time in the past week in which such materials are brought into Gaza under the disguise of humanitarian equipment.

Meanwhile, Egypt also found some of those much-needed explosives on their way to the starving people of Gaza:

Egyptian security forces have found a smuggling tunnel linking Egypt with the Gaza Strip and containing explosives, security sources said on Monday.

The sources said the tunnel, north of the Rafah crossing, contained four artillery shells and 20 bombs, as well as electrical circuits.

But in the peaceful West Bank, in contrast:

The Palestinian intelligence service said on Monday that they discovered a bag containing 16 kilograms of explosives and a homemade projectile ready to be launched in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

Director of Nablus intelligence, Abu Al-Abbas, told Ma'an that the bag was found inside a bigger bag with three detonators in the old city of Nablus.

However, the PA has had a less than stellar record of reliability when they report finds like these. Pretty much anything they "discover" during serious negotiations with Israel can be regarded as either fabrications or gross exaggerations.

ISRAEL ABORTED 1991 AIRSTRIKE ON NORTH KOREA-SYRIA MISSILE SHIP

Report: Israel Planned 1991 Strike on North Korea-Syria Missile Ship (AFP)
Israeli agents prepared to strike a ship carrying 23 Scud missiles from North Korea to Syria in 1991 but cancelled it at the 11th hour under U.S. pressure, the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported Wednesday. In February 1991, during the first Gulf War, agents of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency secretly swam underneath the ship and attached a system to guide an airstrike.

RUSSIA SELLING IRAN NUKE FUEL, SOPHISTICATED WEAPONS, DEFENSE SYSTEM

Iran Gets Second Russian Nuclear Fuel Shipment - Ali Akbar Dareini
Iran received the second of eight shipments of nuclear fuel from Russia on Friday for the Bushehr nuclear power plant, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported. Iran agreed to return spent nuclear fuel from the reactor back to Russia to ensure it doesn't extract plutonium to make atomic bombs. (AP)

Russia Selling Iran Sophisticated New Air Defense System
Russia is selling Iran its new S-300 air defense system, signaling growing military cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said Wednesday. Earlier this year, Russia delivered 29 Tor-M1 air defense missile systems to Iran under a $700 million contract signed in December 2005. A Russian source said the new contract envisaged delivery of several dozen S-300 missile systems. The S-300 is much more powerful and versatile than the Tor-M1. It is capable of shooting down aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missile warheads at ranges of up to 95 miles and at altitudes of up to 90,000 feet. Russian military officials boast that it excels the U.S.-built Patriot missiles. (AP/FOX News)

See also Iran Plans to Buy Russian Copters, Fighter Engines
Moscow and Tehran are in negotiations for the sale of fighter jet engines and helicopters to Iran, the Kommersant daily reported on Dec. 24. Iran wants to buy RD-33 engines for a fleet of new Iranian fighter jets, as well as an upgraded version of the Ka-32 helicopter that Tehran wants to be assembled in Iran. (AFP/Defense News)

HAMAS TO U.S. AND ISRAEL: THANKS FOR THE WEAPONS

Hamas Militants Train for Attack on Israel (FOX News)
FOX News had an exclusive look at Hamas soldiers as they trained with new Kalashnikovs in Gaza. "The U.S. and Israel and other regional powers were generous enough to provide Fatah security with very good weapons, and now they are in our hands," one Hamas gunman said.

CARTOON

PALI MILITIAS WON'T HAND OVER GUNS

Palestinian Militias Firm Against Handing Over Guns - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
Several Palestinian armed groups on Sunday rejected attempts by the PA to confiscate their weapons, vowing to thwart such moves.  The groups also threatened to launch attacks on Israel to embarrass the PA leadership on the eve of the U.S.-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis. Hamas also expressed its strong opposition to the disarmament of any group.

PA Interior Minister Abdel Razzak Yahya confirmed that the PA leadership had promised Israel to dismantle all militias and armed groups in the West Bank ahead of the Annapolis peace conference. "They are making many arrests, but it's mostly of suspects involved in petty crime," said a prominent Nablus businessman. "The latest security operation, which has nevertheless been welcomed by many here, is apparently aimed at appeasing the Americans and Israelis on the eve of the peace conference."

HEZBOLLAH ARSENAL HAS TRIPLED UNDER U.N. "SUPERVISION"

U.N. told Hezbollah arsenal has tripled (UPI)
JERUSALEM, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Israel has informed the United Nations the arsenal of Hezbollah guerrillas' land-to-sea missiles in Lebanon has tripled, Haaretz reported Wednesday.

The intelligence came to light Tuesday in a report by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon following up on the second Israel-Hezbollah war in July 2006.

Ban's report for the Security Council said Israel had provided "a great deal" of information claiming Hezbollah militants had rehabilitated its military strength north of the Litani River, where "most of the new missiles include (Iranian-made) Zelzal and Fajr missiles that have a range of more than 150 miles and are capable of hitting areas south of Tel Aviv."

However, Ban was critical of Israel for failing to provide complete information on the location of cluster bombs fired during the war and Israel's continued use of military flights into Lebanese airspace, Haaretz said.

The newspaper report didn't provide specific numbers of missiles and arms Israel alleges Hezbollah has.

The Do-Nothing UN (Contentions)
In a development certain to shock nobody, the UN has released a report on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, the cease-fire agreement that paused the Israel-Hizballah war last summer. The new report confirms what most sentient people predicted: that Resolution 1701 would accomplish nothing. Ban Ki-moon’s report assents to what Israeli intelligence and military officials have been saying since the end of the war, namely that Iran and Syria have encountered few obstacles to rearming Hizballah with better weapons.

Detailed in Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post, the report says that, in addition to the establishment of surface-to-air missile capacity and the tripling of Hizballah’s arsenal of land-to-sea missiles,

Hizballah’s long-range missile teams are deployed north of the [Litani] river,
and . . . most of the new missiles include [the Iranian-made] Zelzal and Fajr
missiles that have a range of over 250 kilometers and are capable of hitting
areas south of Tel Aviv.

Resolution 1701 and the “robust” UNIFIL that has been “patrolling” southern Lebanon for the past year have not been total non-entities in affecting the situation on the ground. Since the arrival of UNIFIL, Hizballah has focused its reconstruction and re-armament on the area of Lebanon north of the Litani, where UNIFIL does not enforce its paltry and symbolic suppression of Hizballah. Hizballah’s activity in this region, which also involves buying up land for Shia settlement, is actually quite strategically valuable—it allows the creation of physical contiguity between Hizballah’s two strongholds in Lebanon, the Bekaa valley/Syrian border area in the east and the Shia south. Creating this contiguity, and planting Shia civilians throughout this territory, are vital to Hizballah’s ability to deter encirclement by Israel in another round of war, and to wage war from among, and with the help of, Shia civilians. Read on

HAMAS HAS 200 TONS OF EXPLOSIVES

Hamas Has 200 Tons of Explosives - Ronny Sofer (Ynet News)
Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter warned Wednesday that over the past three months Hamas has equipped itself with 200 tons of explosives, most of which were obtained from the Palestinian Authority.

PALI CIVIL WAR DRIVES UP PRICE OF WEAPONS

Palestinian Rivalry Fuels Jump in West Bank Gun Prices - Haitham Tamimi (Reuters/Washington Post)
Two years ago, an M16 automatic rifle could fetch $5,400 or more in the Palestinian West Bank. Now buyers at Hebron's clandestine gun market are asked to pay more than double. Fears that clashes between Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah could erupt in the West Bank is fuelling a scramble for guns. Dealers in Hebron say weapons sales have jumped by up to 70% since Hamas took control of Gaza. "I don't feel safe anymore," said West Banker Abo Abdo, 28, who sold his car this month to buy a rifle to protect his wife and two children. "Everyone is buying guns." "People distrust the Palestinian police. They are buying guns to defend themselves," a Palestinian security source said.

DOZENS DIED IN SYRIAN-IRANIAN WMD EXPERIMENT

THANKS FOR SAVING US THE TROUBLE, GUYS. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.

'Dozens died in Syrian-Iranian chemical weapons experiment' (JPost)
Proof of cooperation between Iran and Syria in the development and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction was brought to light Monday in a Jane's Magazine report that dozens of Iranian engineers and 15 Syrian officers were killed in a July 23 accident in Syria.

According to the report, cited by Channel 10, the joint Syrian-Iranian team was attempting to mount a chemical warhead on a scud missile when the explosion occurred, spreading lethal chemical agents, including sarin nerve gas and VX gas.

The factory was created specifically for the purposes of altering ballistic missiles to carry chemical payloads, the magazine report claimed.

Reports of the accident were circulated at the time, however, no details were released by the Syrian government, and there were no hints of an Iranian connection.

The report comes on the heels of criticism leveled by the Syrains at the United States, accusing it of spreading "false" claims of Syrian nuclear activity and cooperation with North Korea to excuse an alleged Israeli air incursion over the country this month.

According to Global Security.org, Syria is not a signatory of either the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), - an international agreement banning the production, stockpiling or use of chemical weapons, or the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

Syria began developing chemical weapons in 1973, just before the Yom Kippur War. Global Security.org cites the country as having one of the most advanced chemical weapons programs in the Middle East.

600 IRANIAN MISSILES POINTED AT ISRAEL

600 Iranian missiles said to be pointed at targets in Israel (JPost)
Six hundred Iranian Shihab-3 missiles are pointed at targets throughout Israel, and will be launched if either Iran or Syria are attacked, an Iranian website affiliated with the regime reported on Monday.

"Iran will shoot at Israel 600 missiles if it is attacked," the Iranian news website, Assar Iran, reported. "600 missiles will only be the first reaction."

According to the report, dozens of locations throughout Iraq, which are being used by the US Army, have also been targeted.

The Shihab missile has a range of 1,300 km, and can reach anywhere in Israel.

On Sunday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said that the nuclear Iranian crisis forces the world "to prepare for the worst," and said that in this case it "is war."

Kouchner emphasized, however, that negotiations should still be the preferred course of action.

Kouchner, quoted by French daily Le Figaro, added that "Iran does whatever it pleases in Iraq ... one cannot find in the entire world a crisis greater than this one."

HAMAS EMPLOYS U.S. ARMS AGAINST ISRAEL

Hamas Employs U.S. Arms Against Israel (Israel Today)
Hamas forces in Gaza are using heavy weaponry provided to the Palestinians by the Bush Administration to combat Israeli counter-terrorism operations.

Israeli military sources confirmed to Middle East Newsline that Israel Defense Forces Apache helicopter gunships operating against Hamas rocket crews in Gaza have come under fire from U.S.-made heavy machineguns.

The weapons were originally given to Palestinian security forces loyal to Mahmoud Abbas.
Hamas last June took possession of a vast arsenal of weapons and equipment that had either been donated by the U.S. and Western nations or bought with foreign financial aid.

In repeated assurances to Congress over the past two years, the Bush Administration insisted its security aid to Abbas was of a non-lethal nature.

IDF DESTROYS EXPLOSIVES LAB IN WEST BANK

IDF Destroys Explosives Lab in West Bank, Three Soldiers Wounded
IDF troops uncovered an explosives laboratory in Balata near Nablus, acting on intelligence from the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet). Both ready-to-use explosives, as well as chemicals for preparation, were found. The laboratory's contents were detonated in a controlled manner. Soldiers were later attacked by armed Palestinians. Three IDF soldiers were wounded after an explosive device was detonated near their jeep in the Casbah in Nablus early Wednesday. (Jerusalem Post)

RUSSIA DROVE SYRIA/ISRAEL TENSIONS TO SELL WEAPONS

Level of Tension with Syria Drops - Ron Ben-Yishai
According to a new intelligence understanding formulated in both Damascus and Jerusalem, both sides have apparently come to the conclusion that the other side is not looking to launch a surprise attack this summer. Suspicions remain, but the alert level has been dropped a notch or two. Tehran had invested heavily in attempting to persuade Syria's Bashar Assad that Israel was planning a military strike against the Syrian regime and Hizbullah. (Ynet News)

See also Russia Cause of Tension between Israel and Syria
Russia was partly responsible for the heightened tension between Israel and Syria at the beginning of the summer, Gen. Amos Gilad (ret.), head of the Diplomatic-Security Bureau at the Defense Ministry, told Army Radio on Thursday. "At a certain time, the Russians caused the Syrians to believe that Israel was preparing for war," Gilad said. "I think that they have stopped this. Syria is not planning on attacking Israel, and Israel is definitely not planning on attacking Syria." According to a report in Ma'ariv, Kremlin officials purposely mislead the Syrians in order to further maximize their profits from the sale of military equipment. (Jerusalem Post)