Israel seizes night-camera on aid truck headed for Gaza

Israel said yesterday it was investigating how a night-vision security camera and other electronics ended up on humanitarian aid trucks bound for the war-torn Gaza Strip.

The equipment was seized at the Kerem Shalom border crossing before entering the coastal enclave along with truckloads of food, medicine and other humanitarian goods, said defence official Peter Lerner.

Photographs showed the boxes contained at least one infra-red camera, a remote control unit for security cameras and a swivel-mount for such a camera, along with other devices and software.

"Of course we can't let night-vision items get into the hands of Hamas," Mr Lerner said.

"This was not on the list and was not approved. We're investigating it."

He said it was not yet clear who was trying to bring the equipment into the Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces and Hamas militants fought for a 17th straight day.

Meanwhile tunnels linking Egypt and the Gaza Strip are back in the spotlight as diplomats try to work out an agreement to end the fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The tunnels, a lifeline for Palestinians during months under Israeli and Egyptian siege, have long been a bone of contention between the Egyptian and Israeli governments. In two weeks of air attacks on the Gaza Strip, Israel has targeted areas close to the Egyptian border to try to destroy the smuggling tunnels.

Israel, the US and the EU have complained repeatedly about the tunnels, saying they allow the Islamist movement to receive weapons for use against Israel but a mixture of complacency, petty corruption, pro-Palestinian sentiment, official incompetence and Israeli obstinacy have combined to keep the tunnellers in business, at least so far, diplomats and analysts say.

Necessity being the mother of invention, the tunnel operators have devised devious means to conceal their work. On a visit to the area last year, Reuters reporter Alaa Shahine saw tunnels ending in bedrooms, barns and open land.