Smuggling of two tons of fiberglass into Gaza foiled: raw material to make rockets

August 17, 2015   

Customs officers at the Nitzana border crossing, in cooperation with the General Security Service, prevented the smuggling of two tons of fiberglass rolls, which are prohibited from being imported into the Gaza Strip, earlier this month. The fiberglass rolls were discovered in a shipment that aroused the suspicion of customs officers and which, according to the importer from Gaza, was supposed to contain only clothing and fabrics, but which also contained the aforementioned rolls. The General Security Service believes that the fiberglass was intended for use by terrorist elements in the Gaza Strip, since these are used as the main raw material for building long-range rocket arrays. During Operation Protective Edge, fiberglass rockets were also fired towards the Palmachim area. A similar smuggling attempt was prevented last week at the Kerem Shalom crossing, when fiberglass fibers were found hidden inside a shipment containing equipment for schools in the Gaza Strip, which was being imported ahead of the start of the upcoming school year. The Shin Bet said that legal proceedings will be taken against the smugglers in both cases. According to them, terrorist elements in the Gaza Strip are exploiting every possible means in their attempts to gain strength, even at the cost of smuggling raw materials for the terrorist industry while hiding them inside humanitarian equipment. As a reminder, since the beginning of the year, cooperation between the Customs Administration of the Tax Authority and the General Security Service has led to the thwarting of dozens of attempts to smuggle products and materials that are prohibited from being imported into the Gaza Strip and which, according to suspicion, were intended to strengthen terrorist elements there, including: diving suits, polyurethane rocket propellant, sulfur rods, and also special coal used as fuel in iron furnaces for metal processing.