The official blamed Egypt, saying it was not doing enough to stem smuggling through a network of tunnels along the relatively short border between its Sinai desert and the Palestinian territory.
An Egyptian security official reached for comment maintained that Egypt was combating the smuggling successfully.
The Israeli intelligence official said that Hamas, which took power in Gaza in 2007, is “making very big efforts to build up their military capabilities ... building up their rocket capabilities in the Gaza Strip, and all this is happening because of one important thing: The smuggling of weapons through Egypt to the Gaza Strip.”
“Most of the tunnels that are used to smuggle these rockets and explosives and other weapons are in an area of three to four km,” said the official, who is privy to high-level intelligence information and briefed foreign correspondents on condition that he not be identified.
Although Hamas has largely halted its rocket fire since a fierce Israeli military offensive in early 2009, the Israeli security official said the group’s aim remained to strike at Israeli cities.
“Today there are rockets which are reaching 70 and 80 km in the Gaza Strip ... so it means that we can sit here and talk and a rocket can fall on our heads within five minutes,” the official said.
That range would mean that rockets could reach Tel Aviv, Israel’s business and cultural hub. About two million people live in the Tel Aviv area. The assessment indicated that Hamas has improved its capabilities in recent months. Past assessments have said Hamas rocket range was closer to 60 or 70 km.
On Sunday Israel’s Channel 10 TV showed video of Israel’s “Iron Dome” system knocking down rockets. The system is designed to protect Israel from rocket fire from Gaza and Lebanon. However, deployment has been delayed several times and now appears at least months away.
The official added that Israeli intelligence believes that it remains the long-range goal of Hamas to destroy Israel and to establish an Islamic “caliphate,” not only in the Middle East but in Europe as well.
