Prediction Confirmed: Gazans "May be the Best-Armed Terrorists in the World"

Money is no object....Hundreds of AT-23 Sagger anti-tank missiles...SAM-14 Strela anti-air missiles...More than 250 tons of explosives [think: suicide bombers]....

The first hole Hamas blew in one of the two Gaza-Egyptian border walls was just the beginning. Since Friday, Sept 16, their bomb squads are taking the walls down section by section, working round the clock. They plant explosive charges and detonate the by remote control. The Palestinian Authority?s security personnel and Egyptian border police are turning a blind eye.

Wednesday, Sept. 14, the Egyptians came up with the pretext that not all their troops had been deployed. Two days later, they had another excuse: The resident Egyptian military deputation headed by General Mustafa Bakri has sent orders to Palestinian commanders to put a stop to rampage, but the men further down the line ignore them.

Since Israel?s pull-out last Monday, Hamas has held one triumphal parade after after another. Crowds of up to 50-70,000 orderly spectators watched heavily armed terrorists strutting up and down as their leaders on the platforms wowed not to rest until the Jewish state was no more.

In dismal contrast, the Palestinian Authority tried to stage a ?national? celebration last Monday, Sept. 12. The only people who attended were armed, masked members of the Palestinian terrorist groups in revolt against the Palestinian Authority. Abu Mazen?s convoy set out for Gaza from Ramallah, but turned back after he was warned his life would be on the line....

A well-informed European security source told DEBKAfile that the Palestinians are snapping up the huge surpluses of weapons, ammo, missiles, and explosives from the wars in Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo. This is going on amid Sharon?s pledges never to compromise at the expense of national security and invites a hard question: has the political-security conception on which he based his disengagement policy collapsed less than a week after the last Israeli soldier left the Gaza Strip?