Israel upgrades tanks along Gaza Strip

Mon Dec 20, 2010

Israel plans to deploy super-armored tanks along the Gaza Strip, citing a rise in attacks by Palestinian activists on Israeli tanks on the edge of the coastal sliver.

The tanks are equipped with an active armor protection system known as Windbreaker, the Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported on its website Sunday, adding the deployment is scheduled to begin in January.

The move comes following intelligence assessments indicating a rise in the threat of anti-tank missile attacks in the region. The Israeli army also claims that Gaza-based resistance fighters have upgraded their anti-tank missile capabilities.

Two weeks ago, an Israeli tank was damaged when it was targeted on the border with the Gaza Strip by an anti-tank missile.

The Windbreaker armor system, also known as Trophy outside Israel, is capable of neutralizing advanced anti-tank missiles in different ranges.

Tel Aviv procured the system after heavy losses in the 2006 war it waged against southern Lebanon, where anti-tank missiles fired by Lebanese resistance fighters crippled Israel's armored battalions.

The battalion planned to be deployed to the border with Gaza is the only one in Israel to enjoy Windbreaker and is also equipped with the most modern type of Merkava battle tank, the Mark IV.

Israel has declared a closed military zone on the border with the Gaza Strip -- an area which encompasses hundreds of meters inside the enclave. Israeli soldiers frequently open fire on whoever approaches the zone on 'suspicions of armed activity'.

Five Palestinians were killed on Saturday night in an airstrike that pounded an area east of the central Gaza Strip town of Deir al-Balah.

The strike was one of the deadliest since the devastating war Tel Aviv launched against Gaza at the turn of 2009.

Israel's attack against the coastal enclave killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and left more than thousands more wounded.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/156274.html.