A report issued by the Jerusalem Institute for Public Affairs indicates Iranian influence in the Gaza Strip likely will increase in the wake of the recent Hamas-Israeli conflict.

The report, released by the agency directed by Dr. Dore Gold, Israel’s former ambassador to the United Nations, claims Iran plans to expand its stake in Gaza through international reconstruction programs.

Israeli intelligence analyst Shimon Shapira, who authored the report, wrote Tehran could repeat its 2006 success. At that time, Iranian agents directed massive rehabilitation projects in Lebanon following Hezbollah’s war with Israel.

“Iran is already positioning itself for influence in post-war Gaza,” the report, titled “Averting Iranian Influence in Post-War Gaza: The Rehabilitation Issue,” said.

<!–
AdSys ad not found for news/world:instory –>

Iranian experts helped Hamas in Grad rocket fire during the 22-day war with Israel. The sources said several agents of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps were killed in Israeli air strikes.

On Jan. 14, Iranian deputy parliamentary speaker Ali Akbar Mohtashami, heading a 40-member delegation, arrived in Lebanon to direct Iranian support for Hamas.

“Based on the major lessons from the Second Lebanon War, it would be prudent to anticipate that Iran will seek to provide immediate assistance in order to rehabilitate Hamas in Gaza,” the report said. “Just as in Lebanon, Iran will strive to channel the rehabilitation funds for Gaza to its Sunni protégé, Hamas, in order to preserve Hamas’ ability to reassert its rule over Gaza. Sealing the Philadelphi Route (the Egypt-Gaza border) effectively will not only block the supply of Iranian rockets, but also the flow of Iranian cash into Gaza.”

In 2006, the report said, Iranian agents arrived in Lebanon and began distributing up to $12,000 to each Shiite family whose home was destroyed in the war with Israel.

Within several months, Iran, ignoring the pro-U.S. government in Beirut, paved hundreds of miles of roads and rehabilitated houses and public institutions damaged during the fighting.

Waad Co., operated by Hezbollah, directed the Iranian effort in Lebanon. The United States determined that Waad rebuilt Lebanese homes as well as the Hezbollah command and control center in Beirut.

The report urged the Israeli government to insist that the Palestinian Authority (PA), based in the West Bank, remain the sole arbiter of reconstruction projects in the Gaza Strip. Mr. Shapira said PA personnel must be stationed in the Gaza Strip to prevent Iran infiltration.

“It is of prime importance to identify who will provide the assistance funds for Gaza rehabilitation, and who on the ground will implement the wide-ranging renewal projects,” the report said. “A reliable international mechanism is urgently needed to prevent Iran from acquiring influence in post-war Gaza through any assistance programs. This is the only way to guarantee the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza and convert Hamas’ severe military debacle into political currency in Gaza.”

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Previous articleIslamic Terrorists Forming Cells In America
Next articleHamas Proposal: Calm In Fighting For A Year And A Half?Ӭ
David Bedein
David Bedein
David Bedein is an MSW community organizer and an investigative journalist.   In 1987, Bedein established the Israel Resource News Agency at Beit Agron to accompany foreign journalists in their coverage of Israel, to balance the media lobbies established by the PLO and their allies.   Mr. Bedein has reported for news outlets such as CNN Radio, Makor Rishon, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, BBC and The Jerusalem Post, For four years, Mr. Bedein acted as the Middle East correspondent for The Philadelphia Bulletin, writing 1,062 articles until the newspaper ceased operation in 2010. Bedein has covered breaking Middle East negotiations in Oslo, Ottawa, Shepherdstown, The Wye Plantation, Annapolis, Geneva, Nicosia, Washington, D.C., London, Bonn, and Vienna. Bedein has overseen investigative studies of the Palestinian Authority, the Expulsion Process from Gush Katif and Samaria, The Peres Center for Peace, Peace Now, The International Center for Economic Cooperation of Yossi Beilin, the ISM, Adalah, and the New Israel Fund.   Since 2005, Bedein has also served as Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research.   A focus of the center's investigations is The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In that context, Bedein authored Roadblock to Peace: How the UN Perpetuates the Arab-Israeli Conflict - UNRWA Policies Reconsidered, which caps Bedein's 28 years of investigations of UNRWA. The Center for Near East Policy Research has been instrumental in reaching elected officials, decision makers and journalists, commissioning studies, reports, news stories and films. In 2009, the center began decided to produce short movies, in addition to monographs, to film every aspect of UNRWA education in a clear and cogent fashion.   The center has so far produced seven short documentary pieces n UNRWA which have received international acclaim and recognition, showing how which UNRWA promotes anti-Semitism and incitement to violence in their education'   In sum, Bedein has pioneered The UNRWA Reform Initiative, a strategy which calls for donor nations to insist on reasonable reforms of UNRWA. Bedein and his team of experts provide timely briefings to members to legislative bodies world wide, bringing the results of his investigations to donor nations, while demanding reforms based on transparency, refugee resettlement and the demand that terrorists be removed from the UNRWA schools and UNRWA payroll.   Bedein's work can be found at: www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com and www.cfnepr.com. A new site,unrwa-monitor.com, will be launched very soon.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR