By KUNA
Gaza : Hamas used the newly opened border with Egypt to send activists into the Sinai Peninsula over the last two days, with the goal of then sending them from Sinai into Israel to commit attacks, Ha’aretz said Monday.
The Israeli paper quoted a security source as saying that the Israeli Army and Police have consequently beefed up their forces and their alert level along the Israeli-Egyptian border in an effort to thwart infiltrations.
Should Palestinian activists succeed in entering Israel from Sinai, one defense official said they might commit suicide bombings, kidnap soldiers and civilians, or attack small agricultural communities in addition to military out-posts.
In addition, the counter-terrorism unit in the Prime Minister’s Office warned Israelis against visiting Sinai and urged those who are already there to leave.
The Israeli daily said that despite Egypt’s decision to close the cross-point with Gaza Strip, an amount of smuggled weapons which could not be accurately determined was cause for concern.
The daily also claimed that Egyptian authorities had arrested Saturday two Gazans for trying to smuggle weapons, adding that about 15 people were arrested the day before on suspicion of being terrorists.
Ha’aretz said that 12 of those who got arrested Friday were Hamas members.