CAIRO: Reports from Israel reveal a concern over the apparent closeness of Egypt-Hamas ties recently and what that means for the problem of weapons smuggling on the border between Egypt and Gaza. Israeli newspaper Haaretz claims that there are concerns in Israeli political circles that because of the closer relationship, Egypt is turning a blind eye to the smuggling of weapons in tunnels built underneath the border wall. Hassan Abu Taleb from Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies refuted these claims, saying that Hamas is a political reality and that the weapons smuggling adversely affects Egypt before it does Israel. "Egypt's stance is against the tunnels; and when they find any, they close them because it is harmful to Egypt before it is harmful to Israel, he said. "Egypt deals with all Palestinian political forces because they are Palestinians. This doesn't mean we treat the factions in an equitable manner, Abu Taleb told Daily News Egypt, "The PA (Palestinian Authority) is the official authority Egypt recognizes. However, "what has happened is that we are faced with a different situation in Gaza, and there is a reality called Hamas, which is on our border and therefore affects our national security interests, he added. "Besides, Abu Taleb continued "Israel deals with the government of (deposed Hamas Prime Minister) Ismail Haniyeh in matters concerning the Palestinians living in Gaza. This is normal because Hamas is the overriding authority in Gaza and therefore must be dealt with. Shani Cooper-Zubida, the spokesperson for the Israeli embassy, told Daily News Egypt that there were concerns about the weapons being smuggled into Gaza. "We are very concerned with the smuggling, the infiltration. We think the three sides (Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority) should prevent this from happening, she said. Cooper-Zubida added that "we are concerned because those weapons that are being smuggled into Gaza are being sent inside [Israel]. In the last two weeks there have been 63 missiles from Gaza to Israel. Since Hamas took over the Gaza [Strip], 240 missiles have been fired into Israel, so of course we are concerned. The Israeli newspaper also claimed that 73 tons of explosives have been smuggled into Gaza through the border with Egypt since June, including 1,650 RPG rockets and around 6,000 bombs. "Have they found this amount that they claim exists? Where did they get this number from? Abu Taleb said, "They haven't. If they have seized this amount they would have said so. This is an imagined figure.
