CBS: Israeli planes bombed arms convoy for Hamas in Sudan

By JPOST.COM STAFF
As Israeli troops battled Palestinian gunmen during Operation Cast Lead in an attempt to end the threat posed against southern Israel, IAF warplanes were conducting a similar mission far from the border with the Gaza Strip, a CBS report revealed on Wednesday. According to the report, unidentified American officials told the station that in January, Israeli planes bombed a convoy of trucks carrying arms destined for Hamas through Sudan. "Israeli intelligence is said to have discovered that weapons were being trucked through Sudan, heading north toward Egypt, whereupon they would cross the Sinai Desert and be smuggled into Hamas-held territory in Gaza," the sources told CBS. "Israeli aircraft carried out the attack". The attack reportedly killed 39 people and destroyed 17 trucks. Although Sudan has yet to officially blame - or even acknowledge - the strike, Sudanese State Minister for Highways Mabrouk Mubarak Saleem was quoted in the Sudanese Tribune this week as saying that a "major power bombed small trucks carrying arms, burning all of them." He added that the strike killed "Sudanese, Eritreans and Ethiopians, and injured others."