Hamas has taken over the estimated 150 smuggling-tunnels from Egypt into Gaza, and charges the owners $3,000 each per day. 

Five tunnels were blown up by Hamas because their owners didn't agree to pay the fee.  The other digger/owners quickly agreed to pay the requested fee, enabling Hamas to attain a monopoly on the tunnels.

Correspondent Haggai Huberman reports that while the 150 tunnels bring in a total of some $150 million annually, the value of men, weapons and other merchandise smuggled in each year total more than three times that amount - close to a half-billion dollars.  The tunnels are run in a systematic manner, with compensation being paid to the family of a tunnel-digger who dies during the work, and with judges who mediate in various disputes that arise.

The tunnels are categorized according to the goods that pass through them.  Some specialize in weapons, cash, and - of late - Hamas military commanders who seek to return to Gaza.  Others carry food, medicine, computer equipment, and other day-to-day items.  Still others - dug next to IDF positions so as to keep Hamas inspectors far away - carry dangerous drugs.

The London-based Economist quoted last month a tunnel worker who lamented that the increase in the number of tunnels, as well as the high taxation rate imposed by Hamas, has eaten significantly into tunnel-smuggling profits.

Tunnels Supply Hamas Army
Former IDF Southern Command chief Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yom Tov Samia recently wrote a paper for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, in which he stated, "The Palestinians have brought into Gaza more than 30,000 rifles during the past two years, more than six million rounds of ammunition, more than 230 tons of explosives, and scores of anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles. These are the weapons Israel will face next time. The next round in Gaza will look more like Lebanon than what Israel faced in Operation Defensive Shield in Judea and Samaria in 2002, or in previous rounds in Gaza."

Egyptian Involvement
Egypt announced last week that its forces had discovered two smuggling-tunnels.  It has long been Israel's position that Egypt is not doing nearly enough to stop the smuggling into Gaza. 

In the fall of 2005, just weeks after the last Jew was forcibly removed from Gush Katif and other areas in Gaza, Israel transferred control of the Gaza-Egyptian border to Egypt. The agreement stipulated a 750-man Egyptian border force patrolling the border line known as the Philadelphi Route.  This was contrary to the Israeli-Eyptian peace treaty of 1979, which banned any armed Egyptian presence in the Sinai Desert.

Israel has videotaped evidence of Egyptian assistance in smuggling Hamas terrorists through a fence, as well as proof of aid in tunnel-smuggling of arms.  Israeli officials recently decided not to show US Congressmen videotapes of Egyptian policemen helping nearly 80 Hamas terrorists cross illegally into Gaza through a hole in the border fence. This, in order not to raise tensions between Israel and Egypt.

Instead, apparently, Defense Minister Ehud Barak will raise the arms-smuggling issue with his Egyptian counterparts when he visits Cairo later this week.

Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former Defense Minister, was alone among top Israeli figures last week in saying that indirect talks with Hamas via a third party would be acceptable to him. Other Israeli officials said that even if the Hamas terror organization is interested in a hudna (a temporary ceasefire, with the option to abruptly renew hostilities at a time convenient to Hamas), Israel will not negotiate with it.

Indirect talks with Hamas may in fact be taking shape - with Egypt, once again, as the go-between.  Defense Minister Barak is now scheduled to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak this Wednesday in Cairo, and Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal of Damascus is also scheduled to arrive in Cairo this week.  The captive Shalit and other topics are on the agenda.

Egypt is also making efforts to bring about a reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah - something that Foreign Minister Livni has said would lead to the end of talks between Israel and Fatah/Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Hudna Honey Trap
Israeli government leaders have totally negated, over the past few days, any talks with Hamas. Defense Minister
Ehud Barak said last night, "At present, there is nothing to consider.  If the Kassam rockets and mortar shells towards Israel stop, and if Hamas accepts the Quartet's conditions [most notably, recognition of Israel - ed.], then we will reconsider."

Another senior, unnamed, government figure was quoted in the daily Yisrael Hayom as saying, "The mechanism for an [Israeli-agreed] ceasefire is very simple: When the terrorism stops and when Gilad Shalit comes home, we will cease our fire."

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni have also said in recent days that talks with Hamas are not in the cards.

"If Israel wants to enable Hamas to improve its military capabilities, be better prepared for war in the future, and to choose its most convenient time to begin hostilities, Israel should accept the hudna." So says former Deputy IDF Intelligence Chief Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror.  "But if Israel wants to live and realizes it must fight Hamas, it must not allow itself to enter the honey-trap of a hudna."

The government has approved construction of more than a thousand new housing units in the Jerusalem suburb of Maaleh Adumim and the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa.

A furor was raised over a ten-year-old housing project for Har Homa that received its final permits this month for construction of 307 new apartments. 

The Palestinian Authority has claimed that the neighborhood belongs to the section of Jerusalem it plans to use for the capital of the new state it assumes it will build in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas made frantic calls to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice immediately after the plan's approval was announced, asking her to force Israel to quit the project.

The 2008 budget allocation, which includes 500 new apartments, comes in addition to the 307 units already approved.  Maaleh Adumim will receive an additional 240 apartments under the plan as well.

A shortage of apartments in the Jerusalem area has driven housing prices very high over the past three years.

Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Rafi Eitan (Pensioners' party) appeared unruffled by the Arabs' opposition to the building of apartments in Jerusalem's Jewish neighborhoods. "No promise was ever given to anyone that we wouldn't continue to build in Har Homa," he told Voice of Israel government radio on Sunday, "because it's within the municipal borders of Jerusalem." The area was formally annexed to the Jewish State after it was liberated from Jordanian occupation in the 1967 Six Day War.

Eitan pointed out that Maaleh Adumim also falls into that category. Both neighborhoods are located in the part of Jerusalem that was reunited with the rest of the capital in the 1967 Six Day War.

Radical left Peace Now director-general Yariv Oppenheimer immediately condemned the plan, bitterly commenting that the move would "trip up diplomatic negotiations (between Israel and the PA)  before they've begun. Despite the government's declarations that it would freeze construction, the 2008 budget proves that things will look different on the ground."

A week before the Annapolis conference, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to freeze all new construction of new communities in Judea and Samaria and dismantle existing "illegal outposts", including those which are in some cases expansions within the municipal boundaries of existing communities. Jerusalem was not included in that agreement.

The government will open to foreign companies bidding on construction of a new solar power plant in the Negev, without requiring an Israeli business partner.

The government wants to avoid restricting the competition to the two eligible Israeli firms: Luz-2 and Sol.

Another reason for opening the bidding to international firms is attract to Israel's energy development program foreign expertise and experience as well as money.

The plant is expected to produce 250 megawatts of electricity, but that figure is variable, depending on which technology will be used for the station.

The plant will be located near Ashalim, about 55 kilometers southeast Gaza, out of range of current Kassam rocket attacks by Palestinian Authority terrorists, and 30 kilometers from the Egyptian border.

The tender is for a "Build-Operate-Transfer" program, whereby the winning company builds the plant, operates it until the first license runs out and then transfers it to the government.

The first stage of the tender, which includes planning the project, is due to be published within the next month, according to a report in Haaretz. 

The Tenders Committee, headed by Finance Ministry deputy accountant-general Avi Dor, is hoping to complete the tender process by the end of 2008.

Diplomatic chatter, and talk of war between Israel and Syria are increasing once again following the Annapolis Conference. 

Russia is now trying to jumpstart negotiations between Israel and Syria.  Simultaneously, officials in Damascus are warning Jerusalem not to violate Syrian sovereignty.

A member of the Syrian Parliament stated that Syria could strike Israel’s nuclear facility in Dimona if Syrian sovereignty is violated in the future, according to the London based Al-Quds al-Arabi Arabic language newspaper.

Back in September, Israel struck a Syrian weapons facility during a covert airstrike.

Since Israel’s war with Lebanon in the summer of 2006, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s administration has been considering opening dialogue with Syria, and relinquishing Israel’s sovereign claims to the strategic Golan Heights.

Olmert has been fiercely negotiating with the United States and the Palestinian Authority over the relinquishment of Israeli control over Judea and Samaria. However, many in Jerusalem believe that these negotiations may break down, while negotiations with Syria present an alternative diplomatic course.

The Haaretz daily Hebrew newspaper reports that sources close to Olmert claim that negotiations with Syria “have higher chances of success when compared to the Palestinian track.”

Officials in Washington remain irritated over Syria’s continued cooperation with terror organizations working against American diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.

“My patience ran out on President [Bashar] Assad a long time ago,” Bush said during a White House Press Conference last week.

“The reason why,” Bush added, “is because he [Assad] houses Hamas, he facilitates Hizbullah, suiciders go from his country into Iraq, and he destabilizes Lebanon.”

American diplomatic efforts in the Middle East continue to include Syria, as the terror-supporting state was invited to participate in Annapolis.

Asked whether Syria was taking advantage of the renewed diplomatic opportunities, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice was critical.

“Annapolis was a chance we gave Syria … So far the Syrians have failed completely.”

As Bush’s impatience with the Syrian dictator grows, Washington may support attempts by Moscow to place diplomatic pressure on Assad.

Russia has taken an interest in “facilitating” peace talks between Israel and Syria.

As the primary seller of weapons to Syria, Russia is flexing its leverage with Damascus to “facilitate” talks between Israel and Syria, and become more involved in Middle Eastern Diplomacy.

Many officials in Jerusalem believe that Moscow was influential in convincing Syria to attend the Damascus conference.

Russia is now considering an invitation to Israel and the Palestinian Authority to Moscow for a future international conference along with Quartet members: U.S., European Union, and United Nations.

The former head of the General Security Service (Shin Bet) on Saturday obliquely criticized the agency he once led, saying it has failed IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit, still in the hands of the Hamas terrorists who kidnapped him in June, 2006.

It is impossible to rescue Shalit even now, he said, a year and a half after he was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in a cross-border raid near the Kerem Shalom crossing.

"There is not enough intelligence to carry out such an operation," said Ayalon, currently a Minister-without-Portfolio and member of the Security Cabinet. "The intelligence community has not managed to gather enough information on the issue," he added.

Speaking at a Shabbat event held Saturday at Kibbutz Moledet in the north, Ayalon also slammed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's decision to release hundreds of Palestinian Authority terrorists on the altar of negotiations with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

"Shalit is the Palestinians' captive because we uphold certain moral codes," he said. "We have to be pragmatic and take another look at the prisoners released…. [they] should not be held as bargaining chips, but we have to rethink the release criteria."

Ayalon maintained "We are doing everything morally within our power to free Gilad Shalit." A senior Hamas official appeared to corroborate Ayalon's claim, telling a Ynet reporter that Egyptian officials had resumed efforts it abandoned months ago to try to negotiate a prisoner swap between the terrorist group and Israel.

Other sources said Hamas is becoming concerned that Israeli operatives may be getting closer to Shalit.

Hamas forces removed dozens of street vendors in southern Gaza, saying they were working as spies for Fatah and Israel.

The sources said the terrorist organization forced the vendors out of the area in hopes of avoiding an IDF operation to rescue Shalit. The report published by The Jerusalem Post said Shalit "is believed to be held in an underground basement in the southern Gaza Strip."

Ayalon also answered residents' questions about what the government is doing to stop the incessant Kassam rocket attacks on Sderot and other communities in the western Negev.

He agreed that a way must be found to stop the incessant attacks, but seemed to contradict himself on how that should be done.

On one hand, Ayalon said Israel should open a dialogue with Hamas as a way of finding a diplomatic means of ending the attacks, rather than proceed with a large-scale ground operation in Gaza.

He added, however that Israel should not hold political talks with the terrorist organization, until it agrees to formally recognize the existence of the State and support the idea of two states for two nations. Hamas has vowed never to recognize the State of Israel and is committed to driving the Jews out of the land.

The Home Front Command (HFC) has launched an information campaign designed to heighten civilian readiness for the possibility of an attack on Israel using nonconventional weapons.

Every single household in Israel can expect to receive a pamphlet from the HFC in the mail in the coming days. The pamphlet contains instructions on how to behave in emergency situations and is named "Being Protected and Ready." Citizens are instructed on how to find the safest area of their apartment, if there is no pre-designated safety zone or bomb shelter.

The pamphlet that will be mailed to citizens' homes is in Hebrew only. English-speakers can ask for an English language version to be mailed to their homes by dialing 1207 from any phone to the Home Front Command's information center.

Sit next to a wall
The campaign, which will shortly begin airing on TV and radio, tells citizens: "When you hear the siren, you should enter the room, sit next to an inner wall, and not opposite a window. Remember, following the instructions saves lives."

Instructions on how to seal a window, from the Hebrew language booklet.
Home Front Command

According to IDF Radio, the HFC's main conclusion from analyzing the events of the Second Lebanon War was that the population needs to be instructed and prepared for this kind of event. In addition, the information will be available for viewing at the HRC website.

The defense sources said Sunday that the campaign does not mean that there is a heightened alert, and that there is no alert regarding an imminent war. They said that the public needs to prepare for crisis situations during periods of calm, and not be suddenly thrust into preparations in an emergency, as happened in the Second Lebanon War, in 2006.

"It has been proven that people who were inside a structure... were hurt less... than people who were outside"
Home Front Command

No need to panic
Brig.-Gen. Ze'ev Tzuk-Ram, head of the Emergency Authority, told IDF Radio that the campaign was planned for a long time. "There is no need to be frightened or panic," he said. "Some of the campaign is about storing the products and equipment needed for times of emergency," he explained. "Just as one holds medicines in the medicine cabinet, in Israel one needs to hold these things," he said, referring to plastic sheeting and masking tape, which are used to seal apartments in times of a possible chemical or biological attack.

Nachman Shai, who is remembered by Israelis for telling the populace to "drink water" in the first Gulf War, when he was IDF Spokesman, voiced criticism of the Home Front's move. He said the timing was premature and that the public needed time to recover from the trauma of the Second Lebanon War. He also said it was not clear what the citizens are expected to do regarding their gas masks. Some of the homes no longer have the masks, and others might expect to receive them now, he said.