Hamas Video Raises Concerns of Possible Train Attack

by Daniel Siryoti, Lilach Shoval and Shlomi Diaz

Video intercepted after arrest of top Hamas operative shows close Palestinian surveillance of Israeli passenger train line • Footage shot from vantage point only several hundred meters from border • IDF and Israel Railways working to devise solution.

Hamas footage of Israel Railways train approaching Sderot

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Photo credit: Channel 2

Hamas footage of Israel Railways train approaching Sderot | Photo credit: Channel 2

A new train line from Ashkelon to Sderot may be vulnerable to missile fire from the Gaza Strip, a new Hamas video suggests. The video, found by Israeli forces in Gaza, depicts detailed Palestinian surveillance of an Israeli passenger train.

The train line, only a few months old, was built to link the southern city of Sderot to the center of Israel. All the stations are fully protected against missile attacks. But now it has emerged that the Palestinians are monitoring the train line from a vantage point only several hundred meters from the border.

An unnamed official involved in the incident told Israel Hayom that the footage was recovered after a recent arrest of a senior Hamas operative in Gaza.

Following a deadly attack in 2011, in which terrorists fired an anti-tank missile at a school bus near the Gaza border and killed one child, the IDF has made sure to remove trees and shrubbery from the area so as to prevent Hamas from setting up observation posts and firing missiles at vehicles.

But as the video shows, the train is vulnerable to precisely such attacks, especially since there are countless anti-tank missiles in Gaza.

Israel Railways and the IDF Southern Command are currently working to devise a solution to protect the exposed stretch of track. The IDF has raised a number of possibilities that could cost millions of shekels to implement.

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit issued a statement, saying "The IDF has made its recommendations to the government, which will make the final decision on this topic."

The Transportation Ministry said that "the plan for this [train] line was approved years ago and it did not include a tunnel. Before the line was launched, the IDF pledged to make sure this part of the line would be protected, and it is the IDF's job to do so."

Daniel Siryoti, Lilach Shoval and Shlomi Diaz

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=17589

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