The Erez crossing on the Israel-Gaza Strip border. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Israel foiled an attempt by two Palestinian sisters from Gaza to smuggle explosives disguised as cancer medicine into the coastal territory at the behest of the enclave’s ruling terror group, Hamas.

One of the sisters was issued a special permit to cross into Israel for cancer treatment at an Israeli hospital, the Shin Bet security agency said this week. The pair took advantage of the Israeli leniency and attempted to smuggle explosives in tubes labeled as “medical materials” through the Erez Crossing between Israel and Gaza.

The sisters were “sent by Hamas,” and the explosives “were meant to be used to carry out attacks in Israel in the near future,” according to the Shin Bet.

“Unfortunately, this is more proof that terror groups in Gaza are continuing to take advantage of humanitarian channels to export terror into Israel’s heartland,” said Kamil Abu Rokan, head of Israel’s Defense Ministry Crossing Points Authority.

“The security checks at the crossing worked exactly as we expect and with notable professionalism,” added Rokan.

In March, Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan asserted that Hamas was using cancer patients in Gaza as smuggling mules to support and finance terror attacks in Israel.