Israel has approved a new mechanism to prevent weapons from being smuggled into the Hamas- ruled Gaza Strip, local daily The Jerusalem Post reported Friday on its website.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met overnight Thursday, approving the implementation of the new mechanism set up with Egypt to prevent Gaza weapons smuggling, said the report.
The mechanism consists of three layers -- intelligence cooperation, obstacles in Egypt's Sinai and the deployment of new tunnel-detection technology along the border.
Thursday night's meeting came after Amos Gilad, the head of Israeli Defense Ministry's diplomatic-military bureau, returned from Cairo where he met Egyptian government officials, including intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, for talks about the new anti- smuggling mechanism.
Gilad and Egyptian officials also talked about Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was kidnapped by Gaza militants in a cross- border raid in June, 2006.
Citing Israeli defense officials, the report said that Gilad would likely travel to Egypt every other week to oversee the effectiveness of the mechanism.
Israel has repeatedly said that the goals of its recent Gaza operation are to deal Hamas a harsh blow, force the militant group to put an end to anti-Israel activity and stop weapons smuggling from Egypt to Gaza through tunnels.
The 22-day-long operation, dubbed Cast Lead, ended on Jan. 17, killing more than 1,400 Palestinians and wounding some 5,500 others. On the Israeli side, 13 people were killed since the operation began on Dec. 27.
On Jan. 16, the United States and Israel signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Washington to stop weapons smuggling into Gaza so as to boost efforts for a durable ceasefire in the war-torn region.
(Xinhua News Agency January 24, 2009)