President Moshe Katsav said Tuesday that al-Qaida had penetrated the
Gaza Strip after Israel's pullout, the latest senior Israeli official to issue the warning.
"The world praises Israel for evacuating the Gaza Strip, but because of that, more sophisticated weapons and terror groups, including some al-Qaida cells, have penetrated," Katsav said in Rome after talks with his Italian counterpart.
Last month, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's counterterrorism adviser, Danny Arditi, said al-Qaida operatives apparently infiltrated into Gaza during several days of chaos following Israel's pullout.
