5 tons of TNT seized at Egypt-Gaza border

Along with 560 sheep. Cuz it's not a party without TNT and sheep to screw Jerusalem Post

Egyptian police seized five tons of cement and found a half-ton cache of TNT hidden near the Gazan border, a security official said Monday.

In addition, police grabbed a flock of 560 sheep set to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip through underground tunnels.

The flock was discovered on Sunday night, near the entrances to six tunnels in the Salah el-Din district north of the Rafah border crossing, the official said.

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WRite summary here Jerusalem Post

While Egyptian efforts to stop weapon smuggling into Gaza have increased in recent weeks, Hamas is still continuing the illegal operations at a rapid pace, senior security officials told The Jerusalem Post Monday, ahead of Defense Minister Ehud Barak's visit to Alexandria for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

[...]

While the renewal of negotiations for the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit will be the focus of the talks, Barak will also urge the Egyptians to take on a more active role in stopping the flow of weapons and explosives from Sinai into Gaza.

"There has not been any real drastic change in the smuggling," a senior security official told the Post. "The Egyptians are basically working the same way today as they did before the cease-fire went into effect."

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Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Yuval Diskin told the Knesset three weeks ago that Hamas was using the lull in violence since the cease-fire to smuggle new and advanced weaponry into Gaza which will extend the range of their rockets to encompass Ashdod as well.

Might have something to do with a 'hudna'. The Hudaybiyya Treaty allowed Muhammad and the Muslims to strengthen their ranks without needing to worry about a confrontation with the Quraysh tribe. After only two years (630 CE) the Muslims annulled the agreement and conquered Mecca.

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Gaza Smuggling Tunnel Collapses Killing 3

using water and explosives to destroy them or filling them with gas - were dangerous. Thats the whole idea.BBC

The bodies have been recovered of three Palestinians who died when a smuggling tunnel under the border between Gaza and Egypt collapsed, medics have said.

Five others who were inside the tunnel, near the Rafah crossing, are missing.

Tunnels are used to bring fuel, weapons and other supplies into Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade since Hamas seized control in June 2007.

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The Islamist group, Hamas, said Egypt was to blame because of its policy of destroying or gassing the structures.

Egypt has been attempting to close the tunnel network to prevent the smuggling of weapons into the coastal territory. It has been accused of not doing enough in the past by Israel.

'Dangerous methods'

Hamas spokesman Ehab al-Ghsain said that Egypt's methods of tackling the tunnels - using water and explosives to destroy them or filling them with gas - were dangerous.

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