RAMALLAH – Israeli security services suspect that Arab Bedouin in the southern Negev Desert aided Palestinian groups during the eight-day aggression on Gaza Strip, a report said Tuesday. The Hebrew daily Ma'ariv said that the security services suspect that the Bedouin sent information to Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements in Gaza Strip to assist their accuracy in launching missiles at Israel during the aggression that erupted on Nov. 14. According to the report, the Bedouin entered prohibited Israeli military areas and reported on the location of missiles that had fallen there. The daily said that a reserves paratroop patrol reported that it fired warning shots during the chase of a van spotted on a hill next to a base in the Lachish area, forty kilometers south of Jerusalem, but the van and its occupants got away. The report quoted the Israeli army spokesperson's office as saying that the many who tried to enter closed military areas were arrested and turned over to police and other agencies of the security establishment. Egypt mediated a ceasefire deal which ended eight days of Israeli air strikes on Gaza Strip and hundreds of Palestinian rocket attacks against Israel. The conflict saw 168 Palestinians and six Israelis killed. On Monday, Egyptian mediators began separate talks with Hamas and Israel to flesh out details of last week's ceasefire An Egyptian official was quoted as saying that the talks would discuss Palestinian demands for the opening of more Israeli crossings into Gaza. Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahhar told reporters Saturday that the group wanted to see the opening of all four goods crossings with Israel that used to operate before 2006. A senior US official told the Israeli daily Jerusalem Post that Washington understands well that Israel's restrictions on the Gaza Strip are related to arms smuggling, and that a total relaxation of the restrictions would necessitate assurances that arms stop pouring into the enclave. The US official said that as a “goodwill gesture” Israel agreed to extend Palestinian fishing rights from three to six miles off the Gaza coast. The official said that Washington realized that stopping the smuggling is a “critical element” of the cease-fire, and that the US will make this a priority in its discussions with the Egyptians and other international players. The specific mechanisms of how to fight the smuggling were still to be worked out, he said.
