Cleared for Publication: Israel security service foils Palestinian plot to smuggle 2 tons of fiberglass from Egypt into terrorist’s enclave.

By i24news

Israeli authorities intercepted a shipment of two tons of fiberglass intended for use by terror groups in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, officials said Monday.

Palestinian militants from the Ezzedine al-Qassam brigade, the armed wing of Hamas, carry mock-rockets at a rally at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Central Gaza Strip on December 12, 2014 – Photo: Said Khatib/AFP/File

The attempt to smuggle two tons of fiberglass into the Strip from Egypt via Israel was foiled by the Shin Bet security service and Israeli customs officials, according to a statement released by the Tax Authority.

A gag order on details of the case was lifted on Monday.

The Shin Bet said it believes the rolls of fiberglass were intended for use by terror groups to build long-range rockets.

Tax workers at the Nitzana crossing between Egypt and Israel became suspicious when they came upon a shipment ordered by a Gaza-based importer labeled as clothes and materials.

Upon opening the shipment for closer inspection, tax officials discovered the rolls of fiberglass hidden inside.

“Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are taking advantage of every means possible in their attempts to rebuild,” the Shin Bet said in the statement.

“Even smuggling basic materials for the terror industry by hiding them in humanitarian equipment.”

The tax authority said that it also stopped a shipment of fiberglass at the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel into Gaza last week that was marked as containing school equipment.

Since the beginning of 2015 the Israel Tax Authority and Shin Bet have stopped dozens of attempts to smuggle banned materials into the Palestinian enclave that were suspected to be heading for the terror groups in Gaza.

Among the seized equipment were diving suits, polyurethane rocket propellant and carbon and sulfur rods for blast furnaces used in metal work, according to the statement.

View original i24news publication at:
http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/82417-150817-israel-intercepts-rocket-construction-materials-headed-for-gaza