- 17 mrt 2010
Egyptian man dies after shot by Israeli forces at border
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli forces on Monday night shot an Egyptian citizen who was en route to Israel, the army said.
The man died in a hospital inside Israel, an Israeli security source told Ma'an.
Israeli soldiers fired at a "suspicious group" on the border, part of which is unfenced, south of Mount Harif, the military said.
An army spokesman said the man was crossing into Israel and failed to stop after an arrest procedure was initiated.
The group was thought to be smuggling cigarettes into Israel, Hebrew-language news reports said.
The incident came a day after Israeli journalist Yotam Feldman was arrested in Rafah while preparing a report on migrants.
Egyptian forces routinely fire on migrants and suspected criminals in the border area on Israel's behalf.
Earlier this month, the UN human rights chief deplored Egypt's use of "lethal force" against migrants in the Sinai peninsula.
High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay underscored the need for an urgent independent inquiry into the killings of some 60 people – and the wounding and disappearance of dozens more – on the Egyptian side of its Sinai border with Israel since summer 2007, when the two countries agreed to bolster border controls.
"While migrants often lose their lives accidentally while traveling in over-crowded boats, or trying to cross remote land borders, I know of no other country where so many unarmed migrants and asylum-seekers appear to have been deliberately killed in this way by Government forces," she said, according to the UN News Centre.
"It is a deplorable state of affairs, and the sheer number of victims suggests that at least some Egyptian security officials have been operating a shoot-to-kill policy. It is unlikely that so many killings would occur otherwise. Sixty killings can hardly be an accident."
The vast majority of those killed are from sub-Saharan Africa, in particular from Eritrea, Sudan and Ethiopia, the UN says.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=269167 17 sep 2010, 23:12 , Respect -
Mohamed Al Bardaweel, 44
Egyptian Navy Hit A Palestinian Fishing Boat, Fisherman Dies
An Egyptian Navy boat hit a Palestinian fishing boat near the southern shoreline of the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, killing Mohamed Al Bardaweel, 44 years old, witnesses reported.
The Hamas-run government accused Egypt of Intentionally killing the man. The Egyptian navy denied the accusation and said that vessel hit the fishing boat by mistake because the fisherman did not turn on his lights.
This is not the first time Hamas and Egypt trade accusations. Last week Hamas accused the Egyptian police of killing four tunnel workers at the southern Gaza Borders.
Hamas said the workers were killed by being gassed to death; Egypt denied and said that men were killed when the tunnel they work in caved on them.
More than 45 Palestinians have been killed in tunnels gassed by Egyptian police in the past few years, among nearly 145 killed in other tunnel incidents.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58662 15 oct 2010, 23:58 , Respect -
Egypt lets opposition MPs into Gaza, limits aid
Egypt allowed lawmakers from the Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups to enter the blockaded Gaza Strip on Tuesday, but barred construction material contained in an accompanying aid convoy.
Security sources said this week Egypt would keep its Rafah border open "indefinitely".
However, Cairo still limits the items that can cross into Gaza, mostly to medicine and food, and only permits people seeking study or medical treatment to enter Egypt.
A global outrage erupted over Israel's bloody raid of an aid ship bound for the coastal enclave last week, renewing international calls to lift the blockade that has hit living conditions for trapped Gaza's 1.5 million residents.
"Egyptian authorities allowed us to cross into Gaza in solidarity with Palestinians there, but they held back the aid intended to break the blockade and help rebuild the Strip," Brotherhood parliamentarian Mohamed Beltagy said.
The lawmakers, two of whom belonged to Egypt's opposition Karama Party, were granted a 24-hour stay in Gaza.
Opposition groups have accused Egyptian authorities of complicity in the Israeli blockade and have demanded a full, unrestricted opening of the border.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=59695 - 12 juni 2010
Egypt rejects Algerian aid into Gaza
Egyptian authorities have refused to allow an Algerian humanitarian aid convoy to enter into the Gaza Strip which has been under a crippling three-year Israeli blockade.
http://www.presstv.ir/sections.aspx?section=351020202 16 oct 2010, 00:01 , Respect -
Maria 23 juni 2010
'Gaza is Israel's responsibility'
Mubarak accuses Israel of trying to make Egypt responsible for Gaza.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday dismissed Israel's recent lifting of restrictions on the Gaza Strip.
"Israel is trying to shirk its responsibility to Gaza and throw it at Egypt," he said in a Cairo address.
Mubarak said that Egypt, on the other hand, was "investing all of [its] efforts in stopping the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip."
Mubarak, who was speaking to members of parliament from the ruling party, said that Israel was trying to shift responsibility for the Gaza strip to Egypt and to "perpetuate internal Palestinian divisions" and split Gaza from the West Bank.
According to Mubarak, Israel is using the Palestinian divisions to avoid peace negotiations with the Palestinians. He said that Egypt was working for reconciliation between the Palestinian factions and for the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=179285
'Egypt's view of Israel at low'
Report: Israeli ambassador complained about Egyptian attitude.
The Israeli ambassador to Egypt, Yitzhak Levanon has sent a telegram to the foreign ministry in Jerusalem complaining about the attitude of the Egyptian authorities towards Israel, Army Radio reported on Wednesday.
According to the report he wrote that "the attitude of the Egyptian authorities towards us has reached such a low level it is hard to describe."
The ambassador is said to have suggested to the foreign ministry that Israel should treat the Egyptians in a similar fashion saying: "Perhaps that will change their negative attitude."
Army Radio said the foreign ministry told them that Israeli-Egyptian relations take place through normal channels and not via the media.
Israeli-Egyptian relations are rarely warm. Mubarak accused Israel of trying to make Egypt responsible for Gaza on Wednesday, saying the policy was a means of weakening the Palestinians.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=179295 16 oct 2010, 00:03 , Respect -
Maria 6 aug 2010
Egyptian forces chase rocket suspects in Sinai
CAIRO (Ma'an) -- Egyptian security sources in the Sinai said a search was ongoing for two vehicles suspected of involvement in the rocket launches toward Israel and Jordan on Monday.
Officials said they could not release details as the search was ongoing, but noted that it centered on the 15 kilometers of the Egypt-Gaza border, and officers were searching to match small tire tracks.
The search follows statements by officials in Cairo saying the launch of an estimated seven Grad-grade rockets toward the Red Sea port cities of Eilat, Israel and Aqaba, Jordan was perpetrated by Palestinian militant groups directed by Hamas. Officials said Egyptian elements had assisted in the launch from Taba, and later fled toward the border town of Rafah.
Egyptians in Rafah said crossing activity appeared to be proceeding as usual, with no protests following Egyptian accusations of Palestinian involvement in the attacks, which Hamas has pointedly denied.
On Thursday, one Hamas statement said the Egyptian accusations of Palestinian involvement were a pretext to continue the siege on Gaza. Other statements from the party criticized Egypt for its initial denial that the rockets were launched from the Sinai.
It was not until two days after the attack that officials in Cairo confirmed that the attacks were launched from the Sinai, and blamed Palestinian factions.
Source says no evidence
An Egyptian security source said forces were still combing the northern Sinai for evidence of the perpetrators of the attack, which killed one Jordanian man.
Until now, one source said, no evidence has been collected and accusations are based on other intelligence information.
An Egyptian official said authorities in the country remained uncertain over whether or not the rockets were launched from the Sinai, but were working to confirm the possibility.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=305802 25 oct 2010, 00:24 , Respect -
Maria 7 aug 2010
Hamas: Israel fired rockets Eilat, Aqaba to justify more Gaza assaults
5 Grad rockets hit Red Sea port resorts of Israel and Jordan on Monday killing a Jordanian civilian; Israel, Egypt blame Hamas for attack.
The militant Palestinian group Hamas is alleging that Israel fired the barrage of rockets that hit the Red Sea port resorts of Israel and Jordan earlier this week, killing one Jordanian civilian, as a means to justify another assault on the Gaza Strip.
The Soviet-style Grad rockets crashed into the sea near Eilat and killed a taxi driver in Aqaba on Monday, in the second such attack this year. Hamas has denied having firing the projectiles.
Egyptian officials had said following the rocket attack that the salvo was fired by Hamas operatives from Egypt's Sinai peninsula. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed the Egyptian conclusion, blaming Hamas for the rocket attack.
"Israel will retaliate for every assault," Netanyahu said Wednesday. "Apparently there were those who understood that, and tried to avoid taking responsibility for these crimes. Three days after our retaliatory operation in Gaza, Grad rockets were fired from Sinai at Eilat and Aqaba by a seemingly anonymous organization.
Several months earlier, on April 22, similar rocket fire came from Sinai. We investigated the two incidents – it became clear beyond a doubt that Hamas' military wing in Gaza had perpetrated both attacks under disguise," the prime minister explained.
Sami Khater from Hamas' Damascus-based political bureau said on Saturday the group had "no interest" in firing the rockets and even ruled out that they had come from Egyptian territory.
Khater explained that Israel may have fired the rockets in order to blame Hamas and consequently gain a pretext to launch fresh attacks on Palestinians.
http://fwd4.me/0iQq 25 oct 2010, 00:25 , Respect -
Maria 28 aug 2010
190 antiaircraft missiles found in Sinai
Arsenal including antitank charges intended for Gaza discovered by police in peninsula
Egypt has prevented a shipment of antiaircraft missiles and explosives from entering Gaza. Security forces uncovered stores of ammunition in the northern Sinai Peninsula, probably intended to be smuggled into the Strip.
Palestinian news agency Maan reported that Egyptian police exposed a hidden arms arsenal containing explosives, in a desolate area near at the center of the peninsula.
The storage contained 100 antiaircraft missiles, which were meant to be smuggled into the Strip through a network of tunnels. Egyptian authorities also seized 90 antiaircraft rockets in another arms cache in the central city of al-Hasna.
Egyptian forces raided Rafah on its Egyptian side, as well as the town of Sheikh Zuwayid, where additional arsenals with explosives and automatic weapons were uncovered.
According to the report, one of the weapons cache contained 10 antitank demolition charges, which were also designated for the Gaza Strip.
At the beginning of the month, five rockets were launched from Sinai towards Eilat and Aqaba. A Jordanian citizen was killed after one of the rockets landed near a hotel in the southern resort city.
Egypt initially denied that the rockets were launched from its territory, but later an Egyptian security official admitted that "Palestinian militants from Gaza were responsible for the rocket attack."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly accused Hamas of the attack.
A few days later, Egyptian authorities located two trucks that were used by the suspected militants.
Following the incident, Egypt bumped up its security and dispatched police forces to the south of Sinai, in an effort to locate the Palestinian terrorist cell responsible for the attack.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3944978,00.html
Egypt intercepts shipment of 190 antiaircraft missiles
Egyptian authorities intercepted a shipment of 190 antiaircraft missilies probably destined for Gaza, Palestinian news Agency Maan reported Saturday.
According to the report, the authorities discovered the ammunition hidden in a remote area in Sinai.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=186273 17 nov 2010, 17:32 , Respect -
Maria 29 aug 2010
Egypt detains 4 Gaza picnickers
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Four Palestinian picnickers from Gaza were detained by Egyptian security forces Sunday as they attempted to cross into Egypt through a smuggling tunnel, a security source said.
Mohammad Khaled Ismael, 17, Ahmad Jamal Ismael, 18, Mohammad Abdel-Shafi Khamis, 17, and Maysara Abdel-Wahhab Mahmood, 19, will be transferred back to Gaza by Egyptian authorities, the source added.
Meanwhile, Egyptian security forces took over five tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt border area, officials said.
The tunnel entrance points were discovered inside farms and homes along the Salah Ad-Din border area in Rafah. Egyptian forces stormed the area finding one 1.5 meters in diameter and six meters underground.
Four other tunnels were found in a farm 150 meters from the border. No goods were seized during that raid.
The raids came a day after Egyptian police raided arms depots in the Sinai peninsula, which held weapons ready to be smuggled into Gaza. Security sources said three weapons depots were discovered in the raids.
An Egyptian security source said Sunday that smuggling activity has recently increased, after smugglers successfully cut through parts of Egypt's steel underground wall, which was built to thwart weapons.
In July, an Egyptian official said there were hundreds of holes in the barrier, equal to the number of active tunnels. Egypt denied the report at the time, saying that the wall would be finished by the end of year.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=311661
17 nov 2010, 17:33 , Respect -
Maria 30 aug 2010
Egypt banned Hamas pilgrims, party says
GAZA (Ma’an) -- Hamas accused Egyptian security services Monday of obstructing the travel of pilgrims affiliated with the party to Mecca
The Islamist party said it was "puzzled" by Egypt's decision to prevent Hamas-affiliated pilgrims from passing through the country to reach Saudi Arabia, noting that the only route available to pilgrims is via the Rafah crossing on Egypt's border.
Further, the movement said Egyptian security were coordinating with security forces from rival party Fatah in Ramallah to withhold passports of Hamas affiliates. The group added that the Saudi Embassy said they had not received any passports belonging to Hamas members.
Hamas said the move violated the rights to freedom of worship and freedom of movement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=311992 19 nov 2010, 14:19 , Respect -
Maria 31 aug 2010
150 anti-aircraft missiles found in Sinai
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) -- Egyptian authorities have discovered three stores of explosives bound for Gaza, officials said Tuesday.
Egyptian security sources say Cairo will continue a 10-day campaign against arms smuggling in the Sinai which began Thursday.
One warehouse was uncovered in Nakhel city netting 30 artillery shells and 20 anti-aircraft missiles.
A second cache was carved into the side of a mountain holding 80 anti-aircraft missiles.
A third with 50 anti-aircraft missiles and other electronic weaponry was found in Wadi Hurriya.
Security sources told Ma'an that the weapons were bound for Gaza's underground smuggling area in the border town of Rafah. Egyptian officials have expressed concern that the trade in arms bound for Gaza has become a lucrative industry in Egypt, and Cairo is focused on bringing it to an end.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=312230
Israel praises Egyptian effort to curb arms flow to Gaza
Defense officials question veracity of reports that forces had seized shoulder-to-air missiles in recent days.
Israeli defense officials praised the Egyptian military on Monday for its increased efforts in recent weeks to curb the flow of arms to the Gaza Strip, but questioned the veracity of reports that the forces had seized several hundred shoulder-to-air missiles in recent days.
The seizures reportedly took place in the Sinai Peninsula, which is the main thoroughfare for smuggling to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Most of the weaponry is transferred to Gaza via the network of hundreds of tunnels it has established along the border with Egypt – known as the Philadelphi Corridor – but a small amount also continues to arrive by sea.
In recent days, media reports have quoted Egyptian security officials claiming to have uncovered close to 10 different arms caches throughout the Sinai holding hundreds of kilograms of high-quality explosives, hundreds of anti-aircraft missiles as well as automatic rifles and ammunition.
Israeli defense sources said they were aware of Hamas efforts to obtain an anti-aircraft capability to impede the air force’s ability to fly freely over the Gaza Strip.
Due to the risk, Israeli aircraft already fly at higher altitudes and regularly release flares that can divert heat-seeking missiles.
Hamas is believed to already be in possession of a significant number of shoulder-to-air missiles, mainly SA-7s, an old Russian- made anti-aircraft missile.
If the reports are true, then the large number of missiles discovered by Egyptian security forces could indicate increased efforts by Hamas to bolster an anti-aircraft capability ahead of a future conflict with Israel.
Overall, Israeli officials confirmed that Egypt had recently increased its efforts to try to stop smuggling across the border. Earlier this year, Egypt began constructing a steel wall that it buried close to 20 meters underground along the 14- kilometer border, but the Palestinians, according to reports that have reached Israel, have succeeded in breaching the wall.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=186523 19 nov 2010, 14:20 , Respect -
Maria 2 sept 2010
Egypt seizes load of bricks bound for Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) Egyptian security forces in Rafah took control of two tunnels near Rafah they said were used for smuggling goods into Gaza, security sources told Ma'an on Wednesday.
Forces went looking for the tunnels following a tip they received around plans for smugglers to bring a load of bricks into the Gaza Strip.
With a continued ban on the entrance of construction goods for private building projects, materials like bricks and cement are unavailable to the public, restricted to the use of international aid agencies.
Egyptian security said the tunnels were located in the Al-Brazil neighborhood of Egyptian Rafah. They added that the bricks were seized and taken to a warehouse in Egypt.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=312498
19 nov 2010, 14:20 , Respect -
Maria 3 sept 2010
Egypt: 1 migrant killed trying to enter Israel
An Egyptian security official says border guards fatally shot an African migrant and arrested two others trying to cross into Israel.
The official says the guards fired warning shots Friday before shooting the migrant dead along Egypt's border with Israel in the Sinai peninsula. Two Sudanese migrants were arrested while dozens of others fled.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3949013,00.html
19 nov 2010, 14:21 , Respect -
Maria 5 sept 2010
Egypt FM rejects Israeli army on Jordan's border
CAIRO (Ma'an) -- Egypt’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on Sunday rejected the presence of Israeli troops on Jordan’s border with a future Palestinian state, Egyptian press said.
Abul Gheit said Egypt supported Palestinian negotiators on this issue, adding that deploying an international presence to monitor the border would only be considered as a temporary measure, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram reported.
Abul Gheit predicted that Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, re-launched last week in Washington after a 20-month hiatus, had a 50 percent chance of success, but that Palestinians would lose if they stopped trying to establish a Palestinian state, the report said.
The EU, UN and Russia were not invited to Washington, despite their membership of the Middle East Quartet. According to the daily, Abul Gheit speculated that this was because the US administration did not want to build momentum for the talks before ensuring their potential for success.
The next round of peace talks was scheduled to be held in the region on 14-15 September, possibly in the Egyptian resort Sharm El-Sheikh.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=313170
30 nov 2010, 10:51 , Respect -
Maria 7 sept 2010
Egypt seizes Gaza-bound arms across Sinai
EL-ARISH (Ma'an) -- Egyptian police took control of nine weapons caches across the Sinai Peninsula on Tuesday, nearly a week after discovering three stores in the same area.
All of the stores, officials said, were ready to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip.
Several types of weaponry were discovered in the hideouts, located in northern and central Sinai neighborhoods as well as the southern border city of Rafah and the port city of Al-Arish, police told Ma'an.
Egyptian forces said they found machine guns, ammunition, over 170 anti-aircraft shells, 90 artillery shells, 200 bullets of varying sizes and anti-tank landmines. Additionally, 100 kilograms of TNT explosives were seized by Egyptian security from a hideout inside a cemetery in Rafah.
Forces further intercepted two tunnels used for smuggling cars in the border city, with Ma'an's correspondent reporting clashes breaking out between smugglers over commission on the transfer of vehicles.
On 31 August, security sources told Ma'an that over 150 anti-aircraft missiles were found in the Sinai, during a 10-day campaign against arms smuggling in the area. Shortly after, a store of bricks for construction was also seized.
Egypt has launched an apparent crackdown on smuggling tunnels and weapons stores, following reports that smugglers had cut several holes into a subterranean steel wall built to curb the transfer of weapons into Gaza.
While Cairo denied the rumors, forces have seized over 500 smuggling tunnels and several weapons cache in southern Egypt since July.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=313727
Update: Sinai: Weapons stashed in cemeteries
Egyptian security forces patrolling Rafah area find 11 weapons caches ready for smuggling into Gaza.
Egyptian security forces have discovered weapons caches in 11 different locations in the Sinai peninsula, an Egyptian source revealed Tuesday.
Egypt has bolstered security along the border in order to keep weapons and explosives from being smuggled into the Gaza Strip.
Officers patrolling the border between the Gaza Strip and Sinai found anti-aircraft missiles, a quarter ton of TNT, and other weaponry hidden in villages and cemeteries near Rafah, the source said.
The increased patrols, which began Monday, also succeeded in uncovering two large tunnels used for smuggling cars from Egypt into Gaza near Rafah.
Egypt says it will continue the patrols over the next few days. So far, no arrests have been made.
Last week Egyptian security forces found five weapons caches that had been prepared for smuggling into Gaza. Palestinian reports said the troves included 100 anti-aircraft missiles and 100 kg of TNT.
http://bit.ly/cS7lFD
Report: Egypt seizes anti-aircraft weapons bound for Gaza
In a series of raids across the Sinai Peninsula, troops capture arms including machine guns, shells and anti-tank landmines.
Egyptian troops on Tuesday seized nine weapons consignments bound for the Gaza Strip that included anti-aircraft weapons, according to Israeli and Palestinian news reports.
In a series of raids across the Sinai Peninsula, which borders Hamas-controlled Gaza, troops recovered machine guns, ammunition, over 170 anti-aircraft shells, 90 artillery shells and anti-tank landmines, the reports said.
The arms were discovered in a series of hideouts across the peninsula, while a cache of some 100 kilograms of TNT explosives was found in the border town of Rafah.
Egypt opened its border with Gaza in protest against Israel after Israeli commandos killed nine pro-Palestinian activists on a Gaza-bound aid boat in late May.
But in recent weeks, the Egyptian government has apparently cracked down on weapons smuggling to Gaza-based militants, destroying cross-border tunnels and seizing arms.
According to the Palestinian news agency Ma'an, a cargo of 150 anti-aircraft missiles was captured on August 31.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-egypt-seizes-anti-aircraft-weapons-bound-for-gaza-1.312763
Egypt finds 11 weapons caches in the Sinai
Egyptian forces found 11 weapons stores with anti-aircraft missiles in the Sinai, Israel Radio reported on Tuesday.
The weapons caches reportedly had other weapons and explosives, as well. The Egyptian forces found over a quarter-ton of TNT, bombs, and missiles, as well as two tunnels for smuggling cars.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=187435
Egypt seizes Gaza-bound arms across Sinai
EL-ARISH (Ma'an) -- Egyptian police took control of nine weapons caches across the Sinai Peninsula on Tuesday, nearly a week after discovering three stores in the same area.
All of the stores, officials said, were ready to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip.
Several types of weaponry were discovered in the hideouts, located in northern and central Sinai neighborhoods as well as the southern border city of Rafah and the port city of Al-Arish, police told Ma'an.
Egyptian forces said they found machine guns, ammunition, over 170 anti-aircraft shells, 90 artillery shells, 200 bullets of varying sizes and anti-tank landmines. Additionally, 100 kilograms of TNT explosives were seized by Egyptian security from a hideout inside a cemetery in Rafah.
Forces further intercepted two tunnels used for smuggling cars in the border city, with Ma'an's correspondent reporting clashes breaking out between smugglers over commission on the transfer of vehicles.
On 31 August, security sources told Ma'an that over 150 anti-aircraft missiles were found in the Sinai, during a 10-day campaign against arms smuggling in the area. Shortly after, a store of bricks for construction was also seized.
Egypt has launched an apparent crackdown on smuggling tunnels and weapons stores, following reports that smugglers had cut several holes into a subterranean steel wall built to curb the transfer of weapons into Gaza.
While Cairo denied the rumors, forces have seized over 500 smuggling tunnels and several weapons cache in southern Egypt since July.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=313727
30 nov 2010, 10:51 , Respect -
Maria 8 sept 2010
Egypt seizes Gaza-bound arms across Sinai
EL-ARISH (Ma'an) -- Egyptian police took control of nine weapons caches across the Sinai Peninsula on Tuesday, nearly a week after discovering three stores in the same area.
All of the stores, officials said, were ready to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip.
Several types of weaponry were discovered in the hideouts, located in northern and central Sinai neighborhoods as well as the southern border city of Rafah and the port city of Al-Arish, police told Ma'an.
Egyptian forces said they found machine guns, ammunition, over 170 anti-aircraft shells, 90 artillery shells, 200 bullets of varying sizes and anti-tank landmines. Additionally, 100 kilograms of TNT explosives were seized by Egyptian security from a hideout inside a cemetery in Rafah.
Forces further intercepted two tunnels used for smuggling cars in the border city, with Ma'an's correspondent reporting clashes breaking out between smugglers over commission on the transfer of vehicles.
On 31 August, security sources told Ma'an that over 150 anti-aircraft missiles were found in the Sinai, during a 10-day campaign against arms smuggling in the area. Shortly after, a store of bricks for construction was also seized.
Egypt has launched an apparent crackdown on smuggling tunnels and weapons stores, following reports that smugglers had cut several holes into a subterranean steel wall built to curb the transfer of weapons into Gaza.
While Cairo denied the rumors, forces have seized over 500 smuggling tunnels and several weapons cache in southern Egypt since July.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=313727
30 nov 2010, 10:52 , Respect -
Maria 10 sept 2010
Egypt police kill Sudanese trying to cross into Israel
Security official says 26-year-old dies of single shot to head after he 'failed to obey order to stop'
Egyptian police shot and killed a Sudanese man as he tried to cross the border illegally into Israel on Friday, a security official told AFP.
"Police ordered him by loudspeaker to stop, but when he did not obey they shot him," the official said.
The 26-year-old died of a single shot to the head, he said, adding that the incident took place on the Sinai desert border.
The death raises to 30 the number of migrants killed on the border since the beginning of the year -- 26 of them by Egyptian police.
A week ago, Egyptian police shot and killed a man from sub-Saharan Africa trying to cross into Israel.
Cairo has rejected strong criticism from human rights groups of its policy of using lethal force against migrants along the 250-kilometer (150-mile) border.
The border has become a major trafficking route for African migrants seeking jobs and for eastern European women headed for the sex trade.
http://bit.ly/cOkDNI
30 nov 2010, 10:53 , Respect -
Maria 11 sept 2010
Egypt frees 10 more Bedouin detainees in Sinai
Egypt's interior minister will free a further 10 Bedouin detainees, state media and security sources said on Saturday, part of government efforts to assuage long-running tensions in the Sinai Peninsula.
Cairo has released some 200 Bedouins since Interior Minister Habib el-Adly met with tribal leaders in July to explore ways of bringing calm to the area, the sources said.
http://bit.ly/aUS5iY