In a parting message to the Israel Industrialists Association, outgoing Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced his “determination” to free Israeli POW Gilad Shalit.

Ofer Dekel, appointed by the Israeli prime minister to hold indirect negotiations with Hamas for the release of the Israeli POW, left on Thursday for Cairo to hold talks with Director of Egyptian Intelligence General Omar Suleiman.

Mr. Dekel was directed to relay an updated Israeli proposal to the Egyptians.

The new proposal represents an addendum to the Israeli proposal recently relayed to Hamas with the goal of bringing about a breakthrough in the negotiations to release the kidnapped soldier. As part of this proposal, as revealed by Yediot Ahronot, Israel relayed to Hamas a list with the names of hundreds of murder convicts – including “heavy” convicts – out of which Hamas was asked to choose about half.

It was possible to discern great tension in the political establishment over the negotiations for the release of the kidnapped soldier. Prime Minister Olmert held a consultation on Wednesday with the Israeli security establishment leaders on the Shalit issue. This consultation joins the feverish talks taking place in the Prime Minister’s Bureau since the beginning of the week.

In an interview with Israel Channel Two on Wednesday night, Mr. Olmert said he believed that the chances of completing the deal for Cpl. Shalit’s release in the days left in his term were greater than the chances that the deal be completed by the next government under Benjamin Netanyahu, which will be dependent on the “hard-line parties,” in the words of Mr. Olmert.

However, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Wednesday night in a talk with reporters that there was nothing new in the talks to release the Israeli POW.

“There are a lot of ideas and proposals being raised, but you can’t say there is progress,” he said. However, he said he hoped that “in the next few days, there will be an interesting breakthrough.”

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

During Israel’s January incursion into Gaza, Hamas terror leaders hid in the cellars of Shifa Hospital in Gaza on the assumption that Israel would not bomb it.

Over the past two weeks, Hamas has set up a new command headquarters in one of the buildings in the yard of a psychiatric hospital in Gaza.

Hamas’ assumption is that Israel will not attack a building in such a sensitive compound.

Security sources confirm Hamas has relocated more than 50 key locations of its security forces. These are battalion, brigade and sector headquarters of the various security services. Each of the Hamas command headquarters were bombed in the course of Israel’s Gaza Operation. Now each of these headquarters have moved into public buildings that were not damaged, such as hospitals, schools, kindergartens and mosques.

Shifa Hospital, which was used as a shelter by some of the Hamas leadership in the course of the operation, has again been drafted for this purpose, with sections of the Shifa hospital now being used as offices for Hamas’ security services.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

Responding to more than 100 Kassam rockets, mortar shells and Grad missiles since Israel decided to hold its fire on Jan. 18, the Israel Air Force attacked more than a dozen weapons smuggling tunnels from Egypt on Thursday.

Israel Television Channel 2 Israeli military correspondent Ronnie Daniel reported that, despite all the publicity regarding Egyptian efforts to stop the smuggling from Egypt to Gaza, Israeli intelligence confirms that anti-aircraft missiles for attacking Israeli helicopters and jets, Grad rockets and C4 explosives have passed from Egypt to the Gaza Strip through the tunnels since the end of the Gaza operation on Jan. 18. Mr. Daniel noted that this smuggling through the tunnels has not been stopped also by the bombing of the tunnels from the air.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

The Middle East Newsline has confirmed Hamas has been using a powerful explosive for the production of its Kassam-class, short-range missile.

Palestinian sources said the Hamas regime has been employing RDX for the warhead of the Kassam missile. The sources said RDX, also known as cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine or T4, was smuggled from Egypt and has enhanced the blast of the Kassam, with a range of up to 20 kilometers. RDX has been deemed one of the most powerful of military high explosives.

“It is a very powerful explosive,” Abu Dejana, a leading Palestinian missile producer, said. “We use it for missile warheads and for explosive devices.”

Abu Dejana said Hamas has been producing advanced Kassam-class missiles with a range of up to 20 kilometers. He said these missiles were fired toward the Israeli city of Ashkelon during the war with Israel in January.

The sources said Hamas has also combined RDX with TNT for the Kassam warhead. They said the TNT comes in granite-like sections that are ground and compressed for the missile.

In a demonstration for the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya satellite channel on Feb. 12, Abu Dejana, who said he has produced up to 500 missiles over the last few years, employed sugar and potassium nitrate to increase the blast of the warhead. He said Hamas then added shrapnel to intensify the lethal capacity of the missile.

“We use pins, nails and pieces of metal, which increase the blast,” Abu Dejana said.

Abu Dejana said Kassam’s propellant consists of glucose, sugar and nitrate. He said that the substances are mixed and then melted before being placed into the engine.

Palestinian sources said Hamas has also installed timers on its missiles. They said the timers, which could be taken from washing machines and other appliances, allow Hamas squads to flee before a Kassam launch and escape Israeli air retaliation.

“In the past, the holy warriors would set the missile and launch it, and then they would be targeted by the Zionist enemy,” Abu Abdullah, Abu Dejana’s deputy, said. “So we began to use timers. After the missile is placed on the ground, the timer is set, the holy warrior retreats, and the missile is launched five or 10 minutes later.”

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

The Middle East Newsline has confirmed that a bombing in a popular Egyptian market that targeted Western tourists appeared linked to the Hamas regime in neighboring Gaza.

The improvised explosive device (IED) attack in the Cairo market occurred on Sunday, killing a French student and injuring 20 others. Three Palestinian infiltrators linked to Hamas were being sought as suspects in the bombing.

“Foreign sides may be involved in this blast with the aim of destabilizing Egypt and hampering its efforts to establish a permanent truce in the Gaza Strip,” said Egyptian attorney Mokhtar Nouh, who represents Islamist defendants.

Israeli security sources said the three Palestinian suspects were believed to have infiltrated from Gaza through the tunnel network that connects to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. They said the Palestinians were sent by Hamas during heightened tensions with Egypt, which has refused to permanently reopen the border terminal at Rafah.

“We know that there are elements within Hamas who want a confrontation with Egypt,” a security source said. “They are encouraged by Iran and others.”

The sources and analysts said the makeshift bombing in the popular tourist area of Cairo was not the work of al-Qaida. They said the IED was a crude bomb that reflected rudimentary skills.

“I think they are Islamist beginners,” Egyptian political analyst Diaa Rashwan said.

In 2008, Egypt appeared to have blocked the re-emergence of al-Qaida-aligned groups. The regime of President Hosni Mubarak won the cooperation of several imprisoned insurgency leaders and they responded with a renunciation of violence in the name of Islam as well as a truce offer to the United States.

The semi-official Egyptian daily Al Masaiya reported Egyptian security agencies were searching for three Palestinians linked to Hamas.

The newspaper said security forces have increased checkpoints in and around Cairo.

On Tuesday, Egypt’s official Al Ahram daily reported security agencies believed a small Islamist cell was responsible for the bombing.

The newspaper, disputing other accounts, said the bomb was placed on a marble bench in the Cairo market rather than thrown from a balcony toward pedestrians.

Hamas operatives and supporters have been streaming into the Cairo area over the last 18 months. They said some of them were able to finance pro-Hamas activities by Egyptian Islamists.

“This could spark a new wave of terrorism in Egypt,” former Egyptian Security chief director Gen. Fuad Alam said.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al Moallem arrived in Saudi Arabia yesterday in a sign of “warming ties between the two countries,” the official Saudi SPA agency reported.

Ties between Damascus and Riyadh deteriorated after the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, a Saudi citizen and protege, in a bombing widely blamed on Syria, but denied by Damascus.

They were further strained by Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza in December and January. Syria sided with the Hamas, while Saudi Arabia joined Egypt in blocking any collective Arab show of solidarity.

The two sides began mending fences last month with a meeting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi King Abdullah during an Arab summit in Kuwait.

Earlier this month, Mr. al-Assad received Saudi intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz with a message from the king on improving relations.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

At a time when rumors abound about a warming of American-Syrian relations, a report titled “Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence” has asserted that Iran and Syria have increased military cooperation.

“Syrian military cooperation with Iran, including trilateral cooperation with Hezbollah, has increased during the past year,” the report said. “Syria views its links to Iran as a means to press and deter adversaries, particularly Israel, and create leverage for achieving its major goals of a lead[ing] role in the Arab world, maintaining influence in Lebanon, and regaining the Golan Heights.”

Iran accelerated weapons deliveries to Syria in 2008, including shipments to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“Syrian military support to Hezbollah has increased substantially over the past five years, especially since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war,” the report said. “Damascus also supports Palestinian rejectionist groups, such as Hamas, which base their external leadership in Syria.”

Iran has also helped enhance the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who succeeded his late father in 2000. The report said Mr. al-Assad, despite widespread dissatisfaction within Syria over the failing economy, has stabilized his regime while replacing veteran military commanders with those loyal to the president.

“For Syria’s part, Iran has proven over the last quarter century to be Syria’s most reliable ally,” the report said. “Shared interests over the past few years – support for Lebanese Hezbollah, sustaining Palestinian terrorists, and countering U.S. regional intentions – have drawn Iran and Syria toward a closer alliance.”

The report said Syria would remain involved with the al-Qaida network in neighboring Iraq. The intelligence community assessed that Mr. al-Assad would support Iraqis against any pro-U.S. government in Baghdad.

“As the United States withdraws, we assess Damascus will seek improved political and economic ties to Baghdad and is likely to support oppositionists opposed to a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq,” the report said. “Syria will remain the primary gateway for foreign fighters entering Iraq.”

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

Hamas terror groups in Gaza have announced that they have captured a spy ring that was operated by the Fatah in Gaza.

This spy ring allegedly helped Israel during the warfare with Hamas during the Israeli army incursion into Gaza during December and January.

Hamas intends to substantiate its allegations against the defendants by means of taped confessions by Fatah activists to the crimes they allegedly committed.

A Hamas spokesman said the members of the spy-ring gathered important information about Hamas installations and positions where operatives had gathered during the operation.

This information was then passed on to an installation that had been set up by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah, from where it was conveyed to Israel.

Hamas further charged that PA officials committed the crimes they are alleged to have committed in exchange for monetary compensation from Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

During the Gaza incursion, a high official in the Israeli intelligence establishment told The Bulletin that the Israeli army was indeed using information that the Palestinian Authority supplied to Israel against the Hamas government in Gaza.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

An American radar system that uses X-rays and was placed in the Negev a number of months ago has begun operations.

Its purpose is to warn of ballistic missiles, launched from either Syria or Iran. The security establishment says that new system provided indications of recently held Iranian ballistic missile tests, which it says were impressive.

Israeli security sources say that the Israeli satellite system, together with the Green Pine radar system used by Israel’s Arrow missile defense system, is capable of providing a warning of a few minutes following an Iranian missile launch. However, it cannot predict where the missile’s warhead will hit.

The novelty of the X-ray system is its ability to monitor a missile’s trajectory, such that a more precise warning can be given.

Recently, the Israel Home Front Command connected with the American radar, significantly improving Israel’s defensive abilities.

Should a missile be launched from Iran, the entire security establishment would be able to provide an accurate warning, even down to a specific area in a specific city -about eight minutes before the missile hits.

This stands in contrast to warnings during the 1991 Gulf War, when everyone ran for shelters or safe rooms whenever an alarm sounded.

However, the Israeli security establishment is aware that despite the great investment in sirens, some areas still lack sirens.

Israel Home Front Command Maj. Gen. Yair Golan ordered that the number of sirens be doubled in 2009. Previously, there was one siren per mile; however, today the current policy is one siren per half a mile.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

The special American envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, plans to set up an office in Jerusalem and to regularly staff it with diplomats to advance talks between Israel and the Palestinians, according to the Israeli security establishment.

A source in the Defense Minister’s Bureau told the Israeli media:

“We have received unconfirmed reports from some of Mr. George Mitchell’s people that he plans to open an office in Jerusalem. This is of great political significance. He is signaling [to] us by doing so that he will not be dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from afar. Keeping an office in Jerusalem is indicative of the Palestinian orientation it will have.”

If Mr. Mitchell locates his office in Jerusalem, he will be joining former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who now serves as the Quartet envoy to the Middle East, who also established his office in Jerusalem and presently holds his meetings there to advance the process in the region.

Another Israeli security source said the U.S. government has been exerting diplomatic pressure with regard to the type of Israeli government it wants to see in power.

“One should add this to recent meetings with the Syrians and a letter from Hamas to the American president, to get a picture of what kind of era we are entering,” the source said. “The Americans will gladly believe the stories the Palestinian sell them and only after a couple of years will they understand what they got into. Meanwhile we’ll need to eat dirt.”

David Bedein can be reached at: dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com