Between 1,000 to 2,000 Kalashnikov rifles and large amounts of ammunition were smuggled into Gaza from Egypt since the IDF’s recent withdrawal from the area, Brig. Gen. Yossi Kupperwasser, head of research for IDF intelligence, said during a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense and Committee meeting Wednesday.
RPG launchers were also smuggled into Gaza, but the IDF is not aware of any shoulder missiles or long-range Katyushas that have entered the area, Kupperwasser said, adding that no “balance-changing” weapons with unusual range or capabilities were smuggled into Gaza via the Philadelphi route ,along the Gaza-Egypt border, despite the fact that the border is open.
Committee Chairman Yuval Steinitz (Likud) said during the meeting, “What the Syrians are doing to the Americans in northern Iraq is similar to what the Egyptians are doing to us in south Israel.”
"The Syrians are also ‘trying’ unsuccessfully to prevent terror and the smuggling of weapons and terrorists into Iraq,” he said.
“The Egyptians are also ‘trying’ to prevent smuggling and anarchy along the Negev border, but have not been successful in doing so for the past four years.”