- 6 aug 2012
Egypt's Brotherhood says Mossad behind Sinai attack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvE1pJDYTMw
CAIRO (Reuters) -- Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said Monday that the attack on a police station in Sinai in which 16 policemen were killed "can be attributed to Mossad," a claim swiftly dismissed by Israel.
The Muslim Brotherhood said on its website that Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, was trying to abort the Egyptian uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak last year and that it was "imperative to review clauses" of the agreement between Egypt and Israel.
"This crime can be attributed to the Mossad, which has been seeking to abort the revolution since its inception and the proof of this is that it gave instructions to its zionist citizens in Sinai to depart immediately a few days ago."
"(It) also draws our attention to the fact that our forces in Sinai are not enough to protect it and our borders, which makes it imperative to review clauses in the signed agreement between us and the zionist entity," the group said.
Egypt branded the Islamist gunmen behind the attack as "infidels" and promised on Monday to launch a crackdown following the massacre that has strained Cairo's ties with both Israel and Palestinians.
Israel denied any involvement in the attack and dismissed the Brotherhood's claim as "nonsense."
"Even the person who says this when he looks at himself in the mirror does not believe the nonsense he is uttering," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said.
The bloodshed represented an early diplomatic test for Mursi, who took office at the end of June after staunch US ally Hosni Mubarak was overthrown last year in a popular uprising.
Mubarak had cooperated closely with Israel on security and suppressed Islamist movements such as Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood which rejects violence to achieve its goals but whose leaders often voiced hostility towards Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=510551
Haneyya reaches Egyptian intelligence chief on the phone
Palestinian premier in Gaza Ismail Haneyya reached Egyptian intelligence chief Murad Muwafi over the phone on Monday to discuss the murder of Egyptian border guards in Sinai.
The government’s spokesman Taher Al-Nunu told the PIC that the “lengthy” phone call focused on the crime.
He said that joint cooperation that protects national security of both the Egyptian and the Palestinian peoples was also discussed.
http://fwd4.me/17CY
Abu Marzouk: Closing the Rafah crossing mass punishment
Mousa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, considered the closing of Rafah crossing as a mass punishment, saying that it is a wrong decision.
He called, on his page on the social networking site "Facebook", on Monday for strengthening the Egyptian security control over the entire Sinai Peninsula, and not to abide by the unfair agreements that allow such events on the Egyptian land.
Abu Marzouk said that Sinai’s stability provides security for both the Egyptian and Palestinian peoples.
http://fwd4.me/17CS
Morsi promises strong response to Sinai attack
Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi vowed on Sunday to respond strongly to the attack on Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai that left at least 16 of them dead.
"Those who were martyred in this attack as they were breaking their fast during this holy month of Ramadan, those martyrs, their blood will not go in vain," Morsi said.
The president held an urgent meeting with senior military and security officials to address the situation and discuss the appropriate response to the attack.
In this regard, the Egyptian authorities, following the attack, closed the Rafah border crossing and halted all travel activities until further notice.
A security official at Rafah crossing told the Palestinian information center (PIC) on condition of anonymity that the Egyptian authorities informed their counterparts in Gaza and the Palestinian government of its decision to close the crossing.
Unknown masked gunmen launched a sudden attack on an Egyptian security center at twilight yesterday in Rafah city, north of Sinai, killing and injuring dozens of Egyptian soldiers and seizing two of their armored vehicles, according to different news reports.
For his part, former Egyptian intelligence official and military expert Safwat Al-Zayyat stated that the events taking place every once in while at the Egyptian borders with Gaza are an Israeli plot aimed at driving a wedge between Egypt and Gaza.
Zayyat told the PIC that Israel wants to destabilize the situation in Egypt and undermine the improving relations between Egypt and Gaza especially following the visit of senior Hamas officials to Cairo and their meetings with the Egyptian president.
He said all indicators confirm Israel's involvement in this operation, including the evacuation of its employees at nearby Karm Abu Salem crossing a few hours before the attack happened.
http://fwd4.me/17CL
15 Egyptian Soldiers Killed By Gunmen In Sinai, Israeli Army Kills Seven Gunmen
At least 15 Egyptian soldiers were killed, on Sunday evening, while several others were wounded, when gunmen attacked an Egyptian military base in Sinai. The Israeli army also killed seven gunmen, allegedly Palestinian, who reportedly hijacked a military vehicle from the Egyptian military base and attempted to drive through the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) Israeli crossing.
The attack took place near border marker number 6, south of the Rafah and Karem Abu Salem crossings.
Eyewitnesses reported that the gunmen infiltrated into the Egyptian military base in the evening as Egyptian soldiers have just started eating following a long day of fasting as the Muslims are marking the holy month of Ramadan.
Egyptian military sources told the Palestinian Maan News Agency that “a major terrorist attack targeted an Egyptian military base near the Kerem Shalom Crossing”, and that “Jihadist groups, driving vehicles equipped with automatic weapons and RPG launchers, attacked the base, and managed to kidnap a number of Egyptian soldiers”, according to the sources.
Meanwhile, Israeli military sources claimed that the army “foiled an attempted attack by Palestinian gunmen who tried to infiltrate into Israel through the Kerem Shalom Crossing using the Egyptian military vehicles that were hijacked during the attack against the Egyptian military base”.
The sources added that four gunmen were killed when their hijacked armored vehicle exploded, while three more gunmen were killed when an Israeli missile struck their vehicle. The army sealed the area and scanned it searching for gunmen.
The army further instructed Israeli residents of nearby areas to refrain from leaving their homes, and to follow all instructions by the military.
The Israeli military deployed dozens of military vehicles and soldiers along the border area with Egypt and Gaza, while military helicopters conducted several flights searching for potential infiltrators.
An Israeli military spokesperson denied reports claiming that the gunmen managed to abduct Israeli soldiers, and claimed that the gunmen who attacked the Israeli military base “infiltrated into Israel from the Gaza Strip”.
Also, Israel decided to close the Kerem Shalom Crossing until further notice, while Egypt decided to close the Rafah Border Terminal also until further notice.
Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli military vehicles, based east of the crossing, fired at least ten shells into areas in southern Gaza, and also fired dozens of flares around the crossing; no injuries were reported.
Furthermore, Lieutenant Safwat Az-Zayyat of the Egyptian army, denied Israeli reports claiming that the attack was carried out by jihadist groups, and said that “the escalation on the border was planned by Israel in order to cause rift between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, and to destabilize the situation in Egypt”.
Egyptian President, Mohammad Morsi, called for an urgent meeting with the Egyptian Military Council, while Egypt’s Tourism Minister, Hisham Za’zou’, said that this attack was carried out to sabotage the Egyptian efforts to restore tourism in the country.
In a live statement after midnight, Morsi stated that the Egyptian army and the security forces have been instructed to pursue and apprehend the assailants, wherever they are, and said that “the killers, and anyone who helped them, will pay a heavy price for their crime”.
The Al-Jazeera news agency, based in Qatar, stated that Morsi also held a meeting with the Egyptian Defense Minister, Mohammad Tantawi, along with leaders of the Egyptian Military Council.
Also, an Egyptian security source said that the Egyptian army has the bodies of three assailants who were killed while trying to infiltrate into the Kerem Shalom Israeli Crossing.
The Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip denounced the attack against the Egyptian military base describing it as an “ugly and cowardice criminal attack”. It also sent its condolences to the families of the slain soldiers, the Egyptian leadership and the Egyptian people.
The Hamas-led government in Gaza, and several Palestinian factions, also strongly denounced the attack, and said that it “only serves the Israeli interests”.
On his Facebook page, Mousa Abu Marzouq, deputy head of the Political Bureau of the Hamas movement, strongly denounced the attack against the Egyptian military base, and hinted that Israel is behind the attack also hinting that the Israeli military killed the assailants to cover any tracks of Israeli involvement.
Abu Marzouq further stated that “this attack was carried out shortly after Israel started talking about the lack of security in Sinai, and after it issued warnings about a planned attack along the border area, in addition to instructing its residents not to head to Egypt.
Two days ago, Israel instructed all Israeli tourists to leave Sinai after receiving intelligence information about attacks “planned by Jihadist groups operating in Sinai”.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64014
Abu Marzouk denounces Sinai massacre
Deputy head of Hamas's political bureau Mousa Abu Marzouk condemned the attack on Egyptian border guards in the Sinai which claimed the lives of 16 soldiers and rendered many others wounded.
In remarks posted on his facebook page, Abu Marzouk accused the Israeli regime of being involved in the incident, pointing out that Israel knew about the attack in advance and launched a preemptive aerial raid on the perpetrators soon after the incident.
The Hamas official extended deep condolences to the families of the slain soldiers as well as to the Egyptian president and his people.
The information office of Hamas and the Palestinian government in Gaza also issued separately a strong condemnation of the attack and extended condolences to the families of the victims and the Egyptian leadership and people.
Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya, for his part, held yesterday an urgent meeting with the minister of interior Fathi Hammad and other security officials to discuss the developments in this regard.
Spokesman for the government Taher Al-Nunu said briefly at an early hour Monday that the meeting has been ongoing since yesterday and there are intensive contacts with the Egyptian presidency and its intelligence agency to follow up the events and coordinate efforts.
Nunu noted that the government decided to close all tunnels between Gaza and Egypt.
The interior ministry in Gaza deplored in a press release posted on its website the killing of the Egyptian soldiers and described the incident as an attempt to drive a wedge between the Egyptians and the Palestinians in Gaza.
"Such an unfortunate incident points the finger at the Zionist occupation which is trying to tamper with Egypt's security, cause sedition and discord between the Egyptian people and the Gaza Strip people, and foil the achievements of the Egyptian revolution," the ministry stated.
"The border area with Egypt is always secure and guarded from our side and we consider the Egyptian national security a priority and part of our security," it underlined.
A number of Palestinian factions including the popular resistance committees and the Islamic Jihad Movement strongly denounced the attack on the Egyptian soldiers, and stressed the importance of Egypt's national security to Gaza.
They also accused in separate statements Israel of plotting the attack to undermine the good relations between Gaza and Egypt following the revolution.
http://fwd4.me/17CA
Gaza factions convene to discuss Sinai 'terrorist' attack
Palestinians factions in the Gaza Strip convened on Monday to discuss developments concerning the recent attack on police officers in Egypt's Sinai, Ma'an's correspondent said.
The meeting included both secular and Islamic factions, who denounced what they called a "terrorist" attack on Egypt's security forces.
A senior leader of the Palestinian People's Party told Ma'an that coordination between Gaza and Egypt will be necessary in order to find out who the perpetrators were.
"Gaza can never be a retreat for those who plan to mess with Egypt's security," Walid al-Awad said.
Earlier on Monday, both Fatah and the PFLP issued statements condemning the Sinai attack.
"Palestinian people reject the suspicious and cowardly act against the Egyptian officers," a statement from Fatah said. Fatah spokesman Fayez Abu Aita called on officials to bring to justice all those involved in the attack by "terrorists."
Earlier, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement condemning the attack, saying that Egyptian blood is as valuable as Palestinian blood, and the attack can not be accepted by the Palestinian people.
Gunmen killed at least 15 Egyptian policemen and seized an army tank in the assault on a police station near the border with Israel on Sunday.
Gaza's Hamas rulers condemned the attack, which took place near the border crossing where the Egyptian, Israeli and Gazan frontiers converge.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=510413
Hamas steps up border security after Sinai attack
A member of Hamas' security forces stands guard on the Palestinian side of Rafah.
Hamas began implementing a series of security measures in the Gaza Strip on Monday after an attack in the Sinai a day earlier which left at least 15 Egyptian police officers dead.
All smuggling tunnels under the shared border have been closed and extra security personnel have been deployed along the border, deputy foreign minister of the Gaza government Ghazi Hamad told Ma'an.
The Islamist movement placed all security forces in Gaza on high alert after a meeting between Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, Minister of Interior Fathi Hammad and leaders from security forces, he added.
The leader of Gaza's security forces Jamal al-Jarrah said they are in constant communication with Egypt to maintain common security interests.
Egypt's military, which still holds many levers of power in the most populous Arab nation, called the attackers "infidels" and said it had been patient until now in the face of the instability in Sinai.
"But there is a red line and passing it is not acceptable. Egyptians will not wait for long to see a reaction to this event," it said in a statement on its Facebook page.
Egyptian media speculation focused on Hamas as being involved in the attack, but experts urged caution.
"We should not do what we always do and rush to conclusions," said Safwat al Zayaat, a military analyst. "No one has provided any proof."
There is full coordination between Egypt and the Hamas government, Hamad said, adding that Hamas will not allow anyone to threaten Egypt's security.
On Sunday, masked attackers carrying machine guns fired a rocket-propelled grenade at police barracks near Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing, killing at least 15 Egyptian officers, wounding seven and kidnapping others, Egyptian security officials told Ma'an.
The attackers then seized two military vehicles and attempted to storm Egypt's border with Israel.
Israel said its aircraft had fired on one of the commandeered vehicles and that the other had exploded at the border crossing. Israeli forces were combing the area and some of the militants had been killed, the Israeli army said.
Egypt closed its border crossing into Gaza overnight, cutting off the sole exit route for most Palestinians at the height of the Muslim-fast month of Ramadan.
Many key goods, including oil, pass through the tunnels, and a prolonged closure could stymie life in the coastal enclave.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=510360
Factions condemn Sinai attack on Egyptian police barracks
Palestinian factions on Monday condemned the attack on police barracks in the Sinai which killed 15 Egyptian officers.
"Palestinian people reject the suspicious and cowardly act against the Egyptian officers," a statement from Fatah said. The attack only serves the enemies of Egypt and the Palestinians, it added.
Fatah spokesman Fayez Abu Aita called on officials to bring to justice all those involved in the attack by "terrorists."
Earlier, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement condemning the attack, saying that Egyptian blood is as valuable as Palestinian blood, and the attack can not be accepted by the Palestinian people.
Gunmen killed at least 15 Egyptian policemen and seized an army tank in the assault on a police station near the border with Israel on Sunday.
Gaza's Hamas rulers condemned the attack, which took place near the border crossing where the Egyptian, Israeli and Gazan frontiers converge.
"Hamas condemns this ugly crime which killed a number of Egyptian soldiers and extends its deep condolences to the families of the victims and to the leadership and the people of Egypt," the Islamist group said in a statement.
Hamas closed the tunnels to Egypt through which it smuggles goods to avoid Israel's blockade. An Egyptian security source said Sunday the Rafah border crossing with Gaza had been closed indefinitely.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=510318
Barak, Netanyahu tour Kerem Shalom attack site
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have arrived at the Amitai base near the Egyptian border to visit the troops that thwarted the terror attack at the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Sunday night.
"You prepared and acted correctly," said Netanyahu. "I would like to express my condolences over the deaths of the Egyptian soldiers. Obviously Israel and Egypt have a common interest in keeping the border quiet."
http://fwd4.me/17Bi
Gantz on terror attack: 15 minutes from start to finish
Touring scene of Kerem Shalom crossing attack, army chief praises swift response, cooperation between forces. Egyptian official: Israel violated our sovereignty.
On the morning after the attack at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, the IDF is patting itself on the back for its accurate intelligence and swift assassination of the terror cell which infiltrated Israel Sunday night.
With the threat to the border fence increasing daily, it is becoming apparent that diplomatic cooperation between Israel and Egypt is needed in order to halt the extremist Jihad terror cells in the Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt's new Prime Minister Hesham Kandil has stressed that he would work together with the Egyptian army and interior ministry to "avenge the blood of those killed."
On Monday Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz toured the scene of the attack with Brigadier General Tal Russo who reconstructed the events: "The vehicle met with an (IDF) force at every point it tried to infiltrate," he said speaking of the Egyptian armored vehicle stolen by the terrorists.
"There were quite a few clashes before (the vehicle) was destroyed. Armored forces, the Air Force and infantry forces closed in (on the vehicle) and eventually it was destroyed from the air and on the ground.
"Those who attempted to escape and fire at the forces after (the vehicle) was destroyed, were also eliminated," said Brigadier General Russo of the terrorists who tried to escape the armored vehicle.
"On the whole there was a great deal of cooperation together with excellent cooperation between the forces," he added.
Gantz added: "Before the debriefings are completed, I can see that a massive disaster was prevented – a very complex terror attack carried out by terrorists connected between Sinai and Gaza, in a very well carried out operation that combined the intelligence forces, Air Force, armored ground forces, infantry and the Shin Bet."
Rafah surrounded
According to the chief of staff, the handling of the incident was amazing in that the entire episode was over within 15 minutes and within that timeframe everyone integrated to work together seamlessly.
Meanwhile, Egyptian media reported that Egyptian army units have "completely surrounded" the city of Rafah (on the Egyptian side of the border with Gaza) as part of the effort to apprehend suspects in the terror attack that killed 16 Egyptian policemen and injured about seven others Sunday evening, the Al-Ahram news outlet quoted a security official as saying.
In a report published on Al-Ahram's online edition Monday morning, the security source is quoted as saying that Egyptian army helicopters, accompanied by ground forces, have launched a manhunt for the suspects in the deadly attack on an Egyptian police station in the northern Sinai Peninsula, near the border with Israel.
The forces have surrounded Rafah to prevent the suspects from escaping, the report said.
Also Monday, Egypt's minister for parliamentary affairs Mohamed Mahsoub has demanded that the Sinai security arrangements be reexamined following the terror attack near the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Monday.
Mahsoub, who made the statement in a tweet, added that "Egypt would regain its honor on every centimeter of its land."
Hamdeen Sabahi, who placed third in the Egyptian presidential elections as the revolutionists' candidate, criticized Israel for attacking terrorists inside Egyptian territory. He said Israel acted with complete disregard for Egypt's sovereignty in the region.
Sabahi also called for a reexamination of Egypt's security arrangements with Israel, which he claimed was needed in order for Egypt to maintain full sovereignty over Sinai.
http://fwd4.me/17Bg 8 aug 2012, 11:24 , Respect -
Maria 7 aug 2012
Presidential source: Coordination with Gaza to form a joint probe committee
CAIRO, (PIC)-- An informed source from the Egyptian presidency said there is coordination underway between Egypt and the prime ministry in Gaza to form a joint inquiry committee to probe the attack that targeted a military point in the Sinai.
The source told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that the Egyptian presidency is in constant contact with all national security parties and with the Palestinian officials in Gaza to pool the efforts to uncover the circumstances of the terrorist attack.
The source affirmed that the Egyptian presidency rules out the involvement of Palestinian parties in this attack and believes that the incident is aimed at destabilizing Egypt's internal situation and straining its relations with the Palestinians in Gaza.
He noted that the closure of Rafah border crossing was a temporary security procedure not affecting Egypt's good relations with Gaza.
Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya, for his part, stressed in a cabinet meeting on Monday the need for a permanent joint security committee between Gaza and Egypt following up the common issues that concern both parties.
Premier Haneyya denied in a press release issued following the meeting the involvement of any Palestinian in the attack and said he would urge the Egyptian leadership to form this joint committee.
He affirmed that his government is always keen on Egypt's security and stability and believes that the national security of Egypt and Palestine is interdependent.
Haneyya accused the Israeli regime of being behind the attack, saying the Israeli moves that had preceded the incident confirm its involvement in one way or another in the attack.
For its part, the presidency of Al-Azhar university denounced in a statement yesterday the Sinai attack as an act of bullying aimed at disturbing Egypt's relations with the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Al-Azhar university accused the Israeli regime of plotting to create chaos in Egypt and find pretexts for its conspiracy in the Sinai.
It called on the Muslim nation to be more cautious about the malicious plans of their enemies and urged the Egyptian people in particular to stand united in defense of Sinai against conspiracies.
http://fwd4.me/17Jn
Mishaal condemns Sinai attack in phone contact with Morsi
CAIRO, (PIC)-- Khaled Mishaal, the political bureau chairman of Hamas, condemned the bloody attack on Egyptian border guards in Sinai in a telephone contact with Egyptian president Dr. Mohammed Morsi.
A statement for Hamas on Monday said that Mishaal extended condolences to Morsi, the families of the victims and the Palestinian people.
He expressed the Palestinian people and Hamas’s keenness on security and stability of Egypt and rejection of any attempt to tamper with its security.
The attack by masked gunmen killed and wounded dozens of Egyptian soldiers and officers of the border guards.
http://fwd4.me/17Jp
Abu Marzouk: Israeli intelligence involved in Sinai attack
Deputy political bureau chairman of Hamas Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk has said that the Israeli intelligence was involved in the Sinai attack that left dozens of Egyptian soldiers killed or wounded.
He said in a TV interview on Monday that the speed at which the Israeli air force raided and destroyed the armored vehicle seized by the gunmen pointed to previous information on the incident.
Abu Marzouk said that the Israeli intelligence handed its Egyptian counterpart a list of names saying that they planned a “terrorist” attack in Sinai only a few hours before the attack actually took place.
http://fwd4.me/17Jq
Arab League accuses Israel of being involved in Sinai attack
CAIRO, (PIC)-- Assistant secretary-general of the Arab League for Palestine affairs Mohamed Sabih said he does not rule out the possibility of Israel's involvement in the Sinai attack on Sunday.
In a press release on Monday, Sabih said the Israeli side had known about the attack before it happened and evacuated all Israeli tourists from the Sinai a few days earlier.
He warned that foreign parties, especially Israel, are working on causing chaos in the region and bringing about a rift between the Egyptians and Palestinians.
The Arab League official, however, said that the high level of awareness and mutual trust which the Egyptian and Palestinian parties have would help frustrate such plots.
The official emphasized that the Arab League calls on all Arab parties to be alert and cautious about foreign attempts to stir up trouble in the region in order to divert the Arab nation's attention from its core issues and its aspiration for the liberation of Palestine.
http://fwd4.me/17Jj 8 aug 2012, 11:24 , Respect -
Maria 8 aug 2012
Abu Marzouk denies statements attributed to him about Sinai
Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of Hamas politburo, denied statements attributed to him by media that he said "the Egyptian intelligence had prior knowledge of the names of those who committed the criminal act against the Egyptian army in Sinai."
Abu Marzouk said on Tuesday "Many newspapers misquoted my interview on Egypt TV 25 channel and claimed I stated that the Egyptian intelligence knew in advance the names of those who had committed the criminal act against Egyptian soldiers in Egyptian Rafah. This is a fabrication and distortion of my interview."
"What I said was that the Egyptian intelligence knew about the two Palestinians who have been assassinated by Israeli warplanes in the Palestinian Rafah city, the same day of the crime against the Egyptian soldiers", he added.
Abu Marzouk said during the meeting in the Egyptian channel that "the closure of Rafah crossing is a kind of mass punishment which, I think, was not the right decision".
The Hamas leader accused Israel of being involved in the assassination of the Egyptian officers and soldiers in the vicinity of Egyptian Rafah city.
http://fwd4.me/17Kc
Egypt army kills over 20 suspected militants in Sinai
For the first time since the October War in 1973, the Egyptian army on Wednesday launched airstrikes in the Sinai Peninsula targeting extremist groups. More than 20 were killed.
A Ma’an reporter in el-Arish said Egyptian helicopters targeted armored vehicles belonging to "terrorists" in the villages of al-Toumah, al-Shallaq, and al-Atayqa.
The airstrikes started at 3 a.m. and stopped at 5 a.m. causing serious casualties.
Infantry soldiers then besieged what they described as extremist militants with the help of Bedouin tribes trying to control al-Toumah village, which houses the largest number of suspected militants.
Egyptian security sources said the groups fought back and attacked bunkers in el-Arish. Six officials were injured, according to one source, during fierce clashes between troops and the attacking militants.
Military sources told Ma'an that a bunker near el-Arish airport and other bunkers in the city were attacked by jihadists. Two officers and a civilian were injured in the attacks. The civilian was hit by a gunshot to the head and was transferred to el-Arish Hospital. Medics described the case as critical.
The attackers at the army bunker wore black uniforms similar to those who carried out Sunday’s attack killing 16 Egyptian officers, another Egyptian military source explained.
“There are states behind what the terrorists are doing in Sinai. It is far beyond Sinai groups' level,” he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=510860
Egypt launches first air strike on militants in Sinai since 1973, killing 33
Strikes follow clashes between armed men and security forces at several security checkpoints in the Sinai region, and deaths of 16 border guards last week.
Egypt launched air strikes in the Sinai region close to the border with Israel on Wednesday, killing at least 33 suspected Islamic militants, the state-run Ahram news website said.
The air strikes on positions in the town of Sheikh Zouaid followed the deaths of 16 border guards last Sunday in an attack blamed partly on Palestinian militants.
The incident marks the first time the Egyptian Air Force has been called into action in Sinai since 1973. As per peace agreements, Egyptian Air Force activity in Sinai must be coordinated with Israel.
The Egyptian General Intelligence Service, the body responsible for collecting information and thwarting attacks by foreign entities, reported that according to information in the agency’s possession, the attack in which 16 Egyptian border guards were killed was carried out by rebel groups from Gaza and Sinai.
Murad Muwafi, head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service, stated that his agency held information concerning a possible terrorist attack prior to the attack on Sunday night. According to Muwafi, the Egyptian General Intelligence Service is not an operational organization, and as such the information was passed on to the appropriate operational entities.
Witnesses in Sheikh Zouaid, about 10 km (six miles) from Gaza, said they saw two military jets and heard sounds of explosions. Other witnesses in a nearby area said they saw three cars hit.
The strikes follow clashes between armed men and security forces at several security checkpoints in the Sinai region.
Armed men opened fire on several checkpoints in Arish and in the nearby town of Rafah on the border with Israel, according to a Reuters reporter and state media.
A Reuters reporter said one policeman and one resident had been confirmed wounded in these attacks.
Lawlessness in the rugged desert region bordering Israel has spread since the fall of autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak in an uprising 18 months ago and the election of an Islamist successor whose commitment to security cooperation with the Jewish state has yet to be tested.
One of the checkpoints attacked on Wednesday has been attacked 28 times since the uprising, the state-funded Middle East News Agency said.
A few hours after the eruption of the clashes, hundreds of protesters gathered in Arish demanding state protection and chanting "God is Great."
Security forces closed Arish's main highway shortly after the start of the attacks.
Earlier on Tuesday, crowds of angry mourners wept at the military funeral in Cairo of the 16 guards killed in what was the deadliest assault in decades along Egypt's tense Sinai Peninsula border with Israel and Gaza.
In reaction to Sunday's attacks, Egypt began to seal off smuggling tunnels into the Gaza Strip, a security source said.
A Reuters reporter in Rafah said heavy equipment was brought to the Egyptian side of the tunnels, which are used to smuggle people to and from Gaza as well as scarce food and fuel for the small territory's population.
http://fwd4.me/17Ji
Haneyya: Gaza has nothing to do with the murder crime of Egyptian soldiers
Palestinian premier in Gaza Ismail Haneyya has affirmed in a telephone contact with Egyptian president Dr. Mohamed Morsi that Gaza had nothing to do with the murder crime of Egyptian soldiers in Sinai.
Haneyya’s office quoted him as proposing the formation of a joint and permanent security committee between Gaza and Egypt to maintain constant contacts over all security related issues.
The premier extended condolences over the death of the Egyptian soldiers near the Gaza borders and called for maintaining contacts to foil any attempt to drive a wedge between the Egyptian and the Palestinian peoples.
http://fwd4.me/17Jr 10 aug 2012, 23:23 , Respect -
Maria 10 aug 2012
Murderous terrorists, par excellence
Commentary by Khalid Amayreh in occupied Jerusalem
The murderous killing of some 18 Egyptian soldiers at the hands of some obscurant, nihilistic terrorists near the Egyptian-Palestinian borders on Sunday was a grave crime by every imaginable standard.
In Islam, there is no crime under the sun graver and greater than killing an innocent human being. Indeed, the murder of even one human being is equated with the killing of the entire humanity and the saving of a single life is equated with saving the entire humanity.
The Prophet Muhammed taught Muslims that demolishing the Kaaba, the House of God, stone by stone and brick by brick was a lesser crime in the site of God than murdering an innocent Muslim.
We don't know yet for certain the exact identities of the murderous terrorists who killed the Egyptian soldiers as they were breaking their day-long Ramadan fast.
However, all fingers seem to be pointing to the nihilistic Takfeeri killers who think they are practicing Jihad and endearing themselves to the Almighty by murdering innocent Egyptian soldiers, even during the holy month of Ramadan.
What sort of spiritual and ideological blindness has overwhelmed these gangs of ignoramuses and fanatics?
Besides, one is always prompted to ask who stands to benefit from this crime other than the enemies of Egypt, the enemies of Palestine and the enemies of Islam?
The perfidious attack on the small Egyptian garrison is undoubtedly a declaration of war on the people of Egypt, its army, government, sovereignty and national dignity and honor.
It is also a treacherous aggression against the Palestinian people, having occurred only a few days after the successful visit to Cairo by the Prime Minister of Gaza, Ismael Haniya.
Hence, there is no doubt that the criminal perpetrators and whoever stands behind them harbor malicious intentions against Egypt, especially after the deep democratic transformations the country has undergone since the ousting of the Mubarak regime more than 18 months ago.
The manifestly criminal attack shows that there are treacherous fingers lurking in the dark, trying to undermine the stability of Egypt by sowing terror, violence, chaos, and death in the most important Arab country.
And while we don't know exactly at the moment who directs and controls these fingers, it is by no means hard to predict their identity.
The first and foremost suspect is, of course, Israel, whose satanic mindset is capable of devising the unthinkable. It is well known that the Zionist entity suffered a serious strategic setback as a result of the Egyptian revolution.
More to the point, the advent of an Islamist president to the helm of power in the country of 85 million has been a nightmarish dream that came true as the Jewish state had made exceptionally strenuous efforts in coordination with its guardian-ally, the United States, to prevent the Islamists from ever reaching the portals of power in Cairo, even through democratic means.
In the final analysis, those who could devise the 9/11 bombings in the United States would likewise be able to contrive a less sophisticated scheme such as Sunday's bombing.
I know some people might think I am going too far by considering Israel the prime suspect in this affair. However, there are two main considerations that make this writer tend to point an accusing finger toward Israel:
First, Israel has a long history of devising and executing such operations, even without leaving any indicting evidence. Indeed, the fact that the Israeli army liquidated all the attackers suggests that the Israelis wanted the "secret" to die with the perpetrators.
Second, as Israel is undoubtedly the only conceivable party to benefit from this crime, Israel stands accused until proven innocent. Israel has always stood guilty until proven innocent. Israel is a crime against humanity.
To those who still don't know, Israel is hell-bent on rocking the good relations between the Palestinians, especially Hamas, with the new leadership in Cairo. This is why Israeli agents are expected to embark on the unthinkable in order to destroy all the bridges between Cairo and Gaza.
It is well-known that before withdrawing from the Sinai Peninsula in the early 1980s, Israel retained a large number of local agents and informers, including some "sleeping cells" which could be activated anytime.
This is of course not to preclude some of the overzealous elements who can be easily used by the Israeli intelligence to carry out some terrorist acts and are made to think that by doing these acts they are actually serving the cause of global Jihad!!!!
I realize that virtually all Palestinians, especially Palestinian Islamists, are deeply saddened by the horrific crime of murdering 18 Egyptian soldiers. In the final analysis, these are our brothers, our blood, and our souls.
I also know that we are all a little embarrassed, given the fact that the theatre of the crime took place so close the borders with Gaza that suspicions have been raised that some of the murderers might have originated inside the Strip. In fact, some anti-Islamist circles have shamelessly accused Hamas of playing a role in the attack, an accusation that seems to be motivated more by vindictiveness and ideological hostility and less by facts.
In any case, the governments of Gaza and Cairo should strengthen their security cooperation and coordination to prevent the recurrence of this crime.
The stability and security of Egypt also means stability and security for the Palestinians, and vice versa.
This is why the Palestinian side will have to take maximal measures to secure, as hermetically as possible, the Egyptian borders, in order to cut off the fingers that tinker with the security and stability of Egypt.
The enemies of Egypt, especially after the revolution, are many, and the enemies of the Egyptian-Palestinian brotherhood are many as well. That is why we need to remain constantly vigilant.
A final point. Egypt, our beloved big sister, will only be deluding herself if she thought it could secure the vast expanse of the Sinai Peninsula without deploying the Egyptian army there.
The Camp David Accords are too inadequate to guarantee true security in Sinai, given the extreme limitations imposed on the deployment of the Egyptian army in the region.
Hence, Egypt should immediately demand the restoration of the right to deploy its armed forces all over the territory to see to it that security is maintained.
The Israelis and probably the Americans would dither and fret, fearing an unfavorable strategic change along the borders between occupied Palestine and Egypt.
However, Egypt shouldn't flinch on this matter of paramount national security and the entire world would show understanding and sympathy for the Egyptian stance.
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Rights groups: IDF catching African migrants inside Egyptian territory
Egyptian border guards patrol near the border with Israel in Rafah, Egypt
According to a report released by Israeli human-rights organizations, IDF soldiers have been intercepting migrants before they reach the border, then turning them over to Egyptian forces.
Israel has been sending soldiers into Egypt's Sinai desert to stop African migrants before they reach the border, handing them over to Egyptian forces, human rights groups charged in a report released Friday.
The report, published by Amnesty International and several Israeli groups, including Hotline for Migrant Workers and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, said that Israeli soldiers have entered several hundred meters into Egyptian territory to catch migrants and hand them over to Egyptian police.
The report cited an Israeli soldier and several migrants whose relatives were seized by Israeli soldiers inside Egyptian territory.
In an affidavit included in the report, the Israeli reserve soldier said his unit was posted in June several hundred meters inside Egypt to stop African migrants. The soldier described three incidents in which his unit dealt with African migrants on the Egyptian side. On two occasions Israeli soldiers marched the groups several kilometers along the border on the Egyptian side and handed them over to Egyptian police.
In the other, he wrote that soldiers guarded a group of about 40 migrants, including women and a baby, for two days before the migrants "dispersed," and most of them crossed into Israel.
The soldier's name is blacked out. A Tel Aviv attorney countersigned the statement.
The report also cites migrants who succeeded in making it to Israel but say their relatives were in groups that were intercepted and handed over by force to Egyptian authorities.
The three rights group called on Israel to stop the practice, saying it was aimed at preventing migrants from entering Israel, where the government would then have to consider their claims of asylum. The groups said repatriating asylum seekers who might be in danger in their home countries is a violation of international law.
"Israel is responsible for the action or omissions of its soldiers, whether they are located in Israeli or Egyptian territory," the report said. It added that they fear that "victims of physical and sexual abuse by traffickers in the Sinai desert may be among those returned."
Asked about the report, the IDF Spokesman's Office confirmed that it was detaining Africans attempting to enter the country, but did not specify on which side of the border its activities took place.
"The IDF operates in the area of the border in a place where the fence's construction has not been completed, in order to prevent penetration of hostile terrorist activity, as well as criminal smuggling and illegal border infiltration," the IDF Spokesman's Office said.
"In recent weeks IDF forces have been forced, a number of times, to prevent entrance of infiltrators, during attempts to illegally enter the State of Israel's territory, until the arrival of Egyptian forces which took the infiltrators. IDF forces' activities are conducted according to the law," it added.
A senior Egyptian military official in Sinai denied that any Israeli soldiers had entered Egypt to chase migrants. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.
The use of Israeli soldiers just inside Egyptian territory, with apparent Egyptian consent, would be a startling move, given widespread anti-Israeli sentiment among Egyptians and the strong sensitivities over Sinai, which Israel captured in the 1967 war and returned after the 1979 peace deal between the two countries.
The report came as tension rose over the security situation in the lawless desert, where Islamic militants recently killed 16 Egyptian soldiers, stole armored vehicles and drove into Israel, apparently to carry out a further attack until they were struck by Israeli forces. Egypt has deployed additional troops in the peninsula near the borders with Israel and Gaza in an operation to stamp out militant groups.
Israel believes that most of the migrants are seeking work, not asylum, and has recently begun deporting migrants from South Sudan, giving financial incentives to those who agree to leave voluntarily. South Sudan, which gained independence a year ago, has friendly relations with Israel.
The rights groups' report coincides with a sharp drop in the number of migrants crossing the border. In July, Israel said 248 migrants entered, less than half the average. The report quotes Egyptian newspapers saying that 514 migrants were caught in July, several hundred more than usual.
Most African migrants reaching Israel come from Sudan, South Sudan and Eritrea. About 60,000 migrants are already in Israel, and some Israelis have expressed concern that the influx could harm the Jewish character of the state.
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Haneyya denies Gazan involvement in Sinai attack
The head of the Hamas government in Gaza Ismail Haneyya urged the Egyptian president to open Rafah border crossing, denying any Gazan involvement in the bloody attack on Egyptian soldiers in Sinai.
“I call upon my brother, Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi, to open the Rafah crossing, to regain a lifeline for Gaza,” Haneyya said at a dinner ending the daylong Ramadan fast in honor of the liberated prisoners in Wafa Al-Ahrar deal.
The Egyptian government has closed the Rafah crossing on Sunday after 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed in an assault at the Egypt-Israel border.
“Gaza could never be anything but a source of stability for Egypt,” Haneyya added, saying those responsible for the Sinai slayings were conspiring to tighten an Israeli blockade on Gaza.
The Palestinian Prime Minister stressed that the Palestinians had nothing to do with the attacks on Sinai. “Those who kill an Egyptian are not Arab or Palestinian," he said.
"Our security investigations and political communications have not proved yet that Gaza is involved in what happened,” Haneyya said.
He also reviewed his government’s procedures to improve security on the borders between Gaza and Egypt, adding that any accusations on the Palestinians did not serve the relations between the two countries. "We do not want to be dragged into the Israeli trap,” he added.
In another context, he stressed on the basic issues of the Palestinian cause, including refugees and prisoners issues, right of return and liberation for all the Palestinian land.
During the dinner, he welcomed the liberated prisoners, expressing great happiness for their victory over the Israeli security system and the Israeli intelligence.
Haneyya praised the resistance’s brave role in the Palestinian prisoners’ issue, stressing the important Egyptian role in Wafa Al-Ahrar deal.
A leader of the Gaza-based Islamist resistance movement Hamas, Salah Bardawil, said that Egypt did not accuse Gaza for the Sinai attack.
Bardawil said in a statement on Thursday that his government contacted its Egyptian counterpart and they reached nothing to prove Gaza’s involvement in the attack.
He stressed that the Palestinian government in Gaza is working to stabilize the security situation on the border.
He called on the media to be accurate while reporting the news, asking them not to spread rumors and allegations without verification because that would increase tension.
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Haneyya confers with new Egyptian intelligence director
Gaza premier Ismail Haneyya conferred with new Egyptian intelligence chief Ra’fat Shehata over the phone on Friday on progress of the investigation into the attack on Egyptian soldiers in Sinai.
Haneyya renewed condolences to Shehata over victims of the attack by unknown armed men on Egyptian soldiers that left 16 officers and soldiers killed and several others injured near the Egyptian Rafah city.
Egyptian president Dr. Mohammed Morsi had sacked the intelligence chief and a number of military officials in the aftermath of the attack.
http://fwd4.me/17Sd 13 aug 2012, 10:21 , Respect -
Maria 11 aug 2012
Haneyya agrees with Jihad delegation on shunning ideologically deviated elements
Gaza premier and Hamas leader Ismail Haneyya agreed with a delegation of Islamic Jihad on shunning elements championing deviated ideologies.
Taher Al-Nunu, the government’s spokesman, said in a statement on Saturday that Haneyya discussed with the Jihad delegation led by Sheikh Nafedh Azzam latest government efforts that followed the Sinai attack and contacts with Egyptian officials in this regard.
He quoted Haneyya as asserting that no citizen from the Gaza Strip was involved in the attack.
Nunu said that both Haneyya and Azzam denounced the crime and expressed full solidarity with Egypt. They also called for re-opening the Rafah crossing the soonest.
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Masri: Sinai events won’t negatively affect Egypt-Gaza relations
Hamas MP Mushir Al-Masri has charged that the attack on Egyptian soldiers in Sinai fell in line with attempts to destabilize the security in both Egypt and Gaza.
Addressing students in southern Gaza on Friday evening, Masri said that the Sinai events were also meant to drive a wedge between Egypt and Gaza.
He said that all schemes plotted to foil Egypt’s relations with Gaza would end up in failure.
http://fwd4.me/17Wp 13 aug 2012, 10:21 , Respect -
Maria 12 aug 2012
MP Ashqar: Charging Gaza with exporting terrorism media fabrications
MP Ismail Ashqar, deputy head of the parliamentary Change and Reform Bloc, called for punishing those responsible for the "ugly crime" in Egyptian Rafah, stressing Hamas and Palestinian factions' condemnation of this crime.
Ashqar was addressing a political forum entitled "The crime of Rafah and its repercussions on the Egyptian and Palestinian relations" organized by Palestinian Center for Studies and Researches.
The MP denounced the quick accusation against the Palestinian people and Gaza in the media “which aims at distorting the Palestinian people's image”.
The MP called on the Egyptian president Dr. Mohammed Morsi and his government and the Egyptian people to bridle the media which want to create tensions between the Palestinian and Egyptian peoples.
He added that Palestine and the Palestinian people need the support of Arab and Islamic nations, particularly Egypt, and all the free people in order to achieve their national liberation.
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Hamas: No Egyptian proof of Gaza involvement in Sinai crime
Hamas said that it has not been proven that any Palestinian from Gaza was involved in the killing of 16 Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai.
The movement, in a press statement on Sunday, charged the media with increasing tensions and worsening relations with Egypt through spreading rumors and allegations without verification.
The statement appreciated the wise Egyptian position in dealing with the incident and in not aggravating the crisis.
The tunnels are the feasible means to ease the Israeli siege on children and sick people of Gaza Strip, the statement said, adding that opening the Rafah crossing for people and goods movement is an official and civilized alternative for the tunnels.
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Bardawil: PA call for closure of tunnels an opportunistic policy
Hamas leader Dr. Salah Al-Bardawil considered the PA in Ramallah's call for the tunnels' closure to tighten the siege on Gaza as an opportunistic policy that contradicts with the national responsibility.
Bardawil said, in a press statement on Saturday, that the tunnels were an emergency relief to the people of Gaza who suffer from the Israeli siege. "We are sure that the wise Egyptian leadership would not leave the Palestinian people under siege," he added.
Bardawil expressed his condemnation of the PA's opportunism, calling on it to stop participating in the siege imposed on the Palestinian people.
For its part, the Palestinian Ahrar Movement considered the PA call as an incitement for the continuation of the siege on Gaza.
While the Palestinian people and factions have been demanding an end to the siege, the PA called for its continuation, the movement stated in a press release on Saturday.
The movement condemned the PA's call for closure of the tunnels, calling on the Egyptian presidency and government to work for an end to the unjust siege imposed on Gaza for long years.
For his turn, Taher al-Nunu, a spokesman for the Palestinian government, stated that the PA's call proves its involvement in the Israeli siege on Gaza and in deepening the Palestinian division for the sake of winning narrow partisan gains.
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Premier Qendil: Supplying Gaza with power does not affect Egypt's electricity
Egyptian premier Hisham Qendil said on Saturday that the repeated power outages that happened in Egypt during the last few days had nothing to do with his country's electricity supply to the Gaza Strip.
Qendil told a news conference in the presence of the electricity minister that Egypt supplies Gaza with a small amount of electric power amounting to 22 megawatts daily.
He noted that these megawatts are not for free and the Arab League fully pays for providing Gaza with electricity.
The premier also said that Egypt does not export electricity to any of its neighboring countries except for Gaza and suspended its gas contracts except with Jordan which also receives a small amount of gas.
Qendil affirmed that the security chaos which has befallen Egypt lately adversely affected its electricity sector which was hit by some acts of vandalism.
http://fwd4.me/17Ws 13 aug 2012, 15:16 , Respect -
Maria 13 aug 2012
Shifting Truths in Sinai: The political value of murdering Egyptians
Egyptian security forces stand by their armored personnel carriers ahead of a military operation in the northern Sinai Peninsula on August 08, 2012.
Two Land Cruisers filled with about fifteen well-built gunmen in ski masks and all-black outfits appear seemingly out of nowhere. Behind them is vast, open desert. They approach a group of soldiers huddled around a simple meal as they prepare to break their Ramadan fast. The gunmen open fire, leaving the soldiers with no chance of retrieving their weapons.
This is not an opening scene out of a Hollywood action movie. The massacre actually took place at an Egyptian military post in northern Sinai on August 5th. The description above was conveyed by an eyewitness, Eissa Mohamed Salama, in a statement made to the Associated Press (August 8). The gunmen were well-trained. Their overt confidence can only be explained by the fact that “one militant got out a camera and filmed the bodies of the soldiers.”
One is immediately baffled by this. Why would the masked militants wish to document the killings if they were about to embark on what can be considered a suicide mission in Israel? “The gunmen then approached the Israeli border,” with two vehicles, one reportedly a stolen Egyptian armored personnel carrier. The BBC, citing Israeli officials, reported that one of the vehicles “exploded on the frontier,” while the other broke through the Israeli border, “travelled about 2km into Israel before being disabled by the Israeli air force” (BBC News Online, August 7). According to the BBC report, citing Israeli sources, there were about 35 gunmen in total, all clad in traditional Bedouin attire.
Their mission into Israel was suicidal, since, unlike Sinai, they had nowhere to escape. But who would embark on such a logistically complex mission, document it on camera, and then fail to take responsibility for it? The brazen attack seemed to have little military wisdom, but it did possess a sinister political logic.
Only 48 hours before the attack, the media was awash with reports about the return of electricity in the Gaza Strip. The impoverished Strip’s generators have not run on full capacity for about six years - since Hamas was elected in the occupied territories. The Israeli siege and subsequent wars killed and wounded thousands, but they failed to bend Gaza’s political will. For Gazans, the keyword to their survival in the face of Israel’s blockade was ‘Egypt’.
The Egyptian revolution on January 25, 2011 carried a multitude of meanings for all sectors of Egyptian society, and the Middle East at large. For Palestinians in Gaza, it heralded the possibility of a lifeline. The nearly 1,000 tunnels dug to assist in Gaza’s survival would amount to nothing if compared to a decisive Egyptian decision to end the siege by opening the Rafah border.
In fact, a decision was taking place in stages. Hamas, which governs Gaza, was a branch of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. The latter is now the lead political force in the country, and, despite the military’s obduracy, it has managed to claim the country’s presidency as well.
In late July, a high level Hamas delegation met in Cairo. All the stress and trepidation of the last 16 months seemed to have come to an end, as Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal, his deputy Musa Abu Marzouq and other members of the group’s politburo met with President Mohammed Morsi. The country’s official news agency reported Morsi’s declarations of full support “for the Palestinian nation’s struggle to achieve its legitimate rights”. According to Reuters, Morsi’s top priority was achieving unity “between Hamas and Fatah, supplying Gaza with fuel and electricity and easing the restrictions on the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.”
Juxtapose that scene - where a historical milestone has finally been reached - with an AFP photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Ehud Barak, standing triumphantly next to a burnt Egyptian vehicle that was reportedly stolen by the Sinai gunmen. The message here is that only Israel is serious about fighting terror. Israeli newspaper Haaretz’s accompanying article started with this revelation: “Israel shared some of the intelligence it received with the Egyptian army prior to the incident, but there is no evidence Egypt acted on the information.” This was meant to further humiliate Egypt’s military.
Naturally, Israel blamed Gaza, even though there is no material evidence to back such accusations. Some in Egypt’s media bounced on the opportunity to blame Gaza for Egypt’s security problems in Sinai as well. The loudest amongst them were completely silent when, on August 18, 2011, Israel killed six Egyptian soldiers in Sinai. Then, Israel carried out a series of strikes against Gaza, killing and wounding many, while claiming that Gaza was a source of attack against Israeli civilians.
Later the Israeli media dismissed the connection as flawed. No apologies for the Gaza deaths, of course, and AP, Reuters and others are still blaming Palestinians for the attack near Eilat last year. Then, Palestinian factions opted not to escalate to spare Egypt an unwanted conflict with Israel during a most sensitive transition.
None of that seems relevant now. Egypt is busy destroying the tunnels, continuing efforts that were funded by the US a few years ago. It also closed the Gaza-Egypt crossing, and is being ‘permitted’ by Israel to use attack helicopters in Sinai to hunt for elusive terrorists. Within days, Gaza’s misfortunes were multiplied and once more Palestinians are pleading their case. “Haniyeh calls on Morsi to open border crossing closed since Sunday's Sinai attack, say(ing) 'Gaza could never be anything but a source of stability for Egypt,” reported Reuters.
Israeli officials and analysts are, of course, beside themselves with anticipation. The opportunity is simply too great not to be utilized fully. Commenting in Egypt-based OnIslam, Abdelrahman Rashdan wrote that according to the Israeli intelligence scenario, “Iranians, Palestinians, Egyptians, and al-Qaeda operatives all moved from Lebanon to attack Egypt, Israel and defend Syria.”
In Western mainstream media, few asked the question of who benefits from all of this - from once more isolating Gaza, shutting down the tunnels, severing Egyptian-Palestinian ties, embroiling the Egyptian military in a security nightmare in Sinai, and much more?
The Muslim Brotherhood website had an answer. It suggested that the incident ‘can be attributed to the Mossad.’ True, some Western media outlets reported the statement, but not with any degree of seriousness or due analysis. The BBC even offered its own context: “Conspiracy theories are popular across the Arab world,” ending the discussion with an Israeli dismissal of the accusation as ‘nonsense.’ Case closed. But it shouldn’t be.
Before embarking on a wild goose chase in Sinai, urgent questions must be asked and answered. Haphazard action will only make things worse for Egypt, Palestine and for Sinai’s long-neglected Bedouin population.
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Abu Sabha: Egyptian promises to reopen Rafah before Eid al-Fitr
Maher Abu Sabha, general director of crossings and borders in Gaza, quoted Egyptian official sources as saying that the land port will be opened in both directions before Eid al-Fitr.
There is no official confirmation yet of the crossing opening, Abu Sabha told PIC. Egypt may open the border on Tuesday, he added.
He explained that, since the closure of the Rafah crossing, around 30 to 35 thousands passengers have been banned from traveling.
Around 3,700 Gazans returned to the coastal enclave on Friday after being stranded in Egypt while the Rafah crossing was closed, the Gaza official said.
The border crossing was closed on Sunday following an armed attack in the Sinai in which 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed.
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Economist: Closing tunnels causes huge economic losses
Economist Dr. Maher Al Tabbaa affirmed that the sudden closure of the Gaza tunnels without opening the commercial crossings and without lifting the siege will cause huge economic losses in Gaza.
Al Tabbaa called, in an article on Monday, for ending the siege and the hardships caused by the imposed use of tunnels, stressing that using the tunnels will only end after opening all commercial crossings to allow the entry of all kinds of goods to the Strip.
He pointed out that the decrease in prices of building material incoming through tunnels has contributed in increasing residential buildings, implementing some projects and increasing the percentage of workers in the construction sector, and thus, significantly decreasing the unemployment rate.
The economist stressed that the tunnels, whose number exceeds 1200, have become the only alternative option available for bringing goods to Gaza, noting that Gaza's imports through the tunnels have exceeded a billion dollar per year.
Yet, Al Tabbaa stated that the tunnels will not become the legitimate and legal alternative for the entry of goods and commodities, as the tunnel trade is considered illegal and arbitrary and does not meet all Gaza's needs.
http://fwd4.me/17Yb...Read more 14 aug 2012, 13:34 , Respect -
Maria 14 aug 2012
Fatah's cheap opportunism
Commentary by Khalid Amayreh
Following last week's murderous attack in Rafah, in which 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed, Fatah officials and spokespersons viewed the incident as a valuable propaganda asset to tarnish the image of Hamas and incite the Egyptian government against the Palestinian Islamist movement.
Hamas strongly condemned the attack, voicing its willingness to help identify and capture the criminal perpetrators.
However, Fatah deliberately and brazenly ignored the obvious fact that Hamas had absolutely nothing to do with the "takferi" Qaida-allied terrorists and was in no way involved in or responsible for the nefarious crime against Egyptian lives and national sovereignty and dignity.
Fatah also seemed completely oblivious of the fact that the attack collided head-on with Hamas's political interests, especially after the successful recent visit Prime Minister Ismael Haniya paid to Egypt, during which he held extensive meetings with President Muhammed Mursi as well as the leaders of the Egyptian Muslim Brothers.
Instead, Fatah spokespersons began uttering and issuing all sorts of disinformation and black propaganda with the clear aim of besmirching Hamas's image and creating the false impression that Hamas bore at least part of the blame of what happened.
One of the PA mouthpieces, the Maan News Agency, which is funded by the European Union and is expected to practice a semblance of professional journalism, stooped to the base level of becoming a cheap tool of incitement against Hamas.
Citing "unnamed sources" as usual, the "news agency" claimed that the perpetrators came originally from the Gaza Strip and that Hamas helped and facilitated the task of the killers in some way.
Not a shred of evidence was given to corroborate the venomous accusations.
Similarly, a host of Fatah spokesmen, in whose lexicons, words such honesty and veracity evidently don't exist, claimed that that the Sinai attack was made possible due to the network of underground tunnels in the area and that Hamas bore the ultimate responsibility.
One spokesman claimed that the Takferi elements incubated from under the cloak of Hamas and that Hamas was sharing them their extremist ideology.
They utterly forgot how Fatah sided with these elements when Hamas cracked down on them a few years ago.
Even PA president Mahmoud Abbas joined the tirade of incitement. He urged the Egyptian authorities to destroy all the tunnels in the area, claiming that Gazans didn't need the tunnels in the first place.
He ignored the criminal 7-year siege by Israel which forced the inhabitants of the coastal enclave to seek vital consumer products from across the border in Egypt in order to avert starvation.
Abbas's remarks decidedly put him on the side of Israel, the US and remnants of the defunct Mubarak regime which wanted to put Gaza and its 1.7 million Palestinians completely at Israel's mercy.
Indeed, instead of voicing satisfaction at the new arrangements at the Rafah border crossing whereby travelers move relatively freely in both directions of the borders without any Israeli interference, the PA seemed to long for the days when the Israelis would even know the color of a traveler's underwear, thanks to the humiliating conditions stemming from the disgraceful agreement to operate the Rafah Border Crossing, which Israel and the U.S. imposed on a shockingly pliant PA.
In the final analysis, the PA is willing to travel any distance and go to any extent to spite off Hamas, even if this meant colluding and coordinating positions with the enemy, which really raises the question of whether it is wise to seek unity with Fatah under existing circumstances.
The terrorist attack near Rafah has really unmasked the real intensions of Fatah vis-à-vis Hamas.
The group, which had signed the perfidious Oslo Accords and promised the Palestinian masses that the treasonous agreement would lead to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, is now devoting all its energies to undermine Hamas, not end the Israeli occupation.
Fatah is not really interested in a genuine reconciliation with Hamas. Instead, Fatah would like to use the reconciliation process in order to crush Hamas and paralyze its role in the Palestinian society.
The trouble with Fatah goes far beyond inciting Egypt against Hamas. Fatah continues to detain Hamas's supporters in the West Bank. Fatah continues to hound and blacklist Islamists, barring them from public jobs in education, hospitals and various other fields.
I really don't know how a real reconciliation can be achieved when the Fatah leadership, including the bulk of the security agencies in the West Bank, is still haunted by the desire for revenge for "the loss of Gaza."
Perhaps it is still not too late to hope for the rebuilding of Palestinian national unity. However, it is extremely important that the Islamist camp be really vigilant and meticulous about every little detail.
In the final analysis, Fatah will have to clean its hatefulness, vindictiveness and sullen hostility toward Hamas. This is the main prerequisite for a successful reconciliation.
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Official: Egypt forces detain 2, seize computer in Sinai
Egyptian security officials say they seized documents detailing the names and operational information of militants in Sinai on Tuesday during a raid in Sheikh Zuwaid.
A security official told Ma'an that clashes erupted when the Egyptian army raided al-Goura village and a neighboring Bedouin camp, leading to a gunfight in which one Egyptian soldier was injured.
A man identified as Muhammad C and his brother were arrested from al-Goura, while other suspected militants escaped, the security official said.
Egyptian soldiers seized a computer containing data including the identities of "terrorists" working in the area and communication between them, he added.
Meanwhile, large military forces, together with special forces, launched operations in el-Arish and surrounding villages early on Tuesday.
Witnesses told Ma'an that an Apache helicopter escorted ground forces.
Late Monday, a group of armed men opened fire at a checkpoint in el-Arish city, a security source said. No injuries were reported.
A similar incident took place on Sunday when two men in a four-wheel-drive vehicle opened fire on a police station in the city. Police fired back but the men escaped, the source said.
Five men were detained in al-Goura on Monday, as troops searched for those those responsible for the killing of 16 border guards on Aug. 5. Four of the militants were Egyptian and one was Palestinian, security sources said.
Seven gunmen were killed on Sunday in a north Sinai village when Egyptian troops stormed the area, security officials said.
Disorder has been spreading in North Sinai, a region awash with guns that feels neglected by the central government since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak last year in a popular uprising. Mubarak's government had worked closely with Israel to secure the border region.
Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, who took office in June, has promised to restore stability.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=512454
Egypt launches Sinai raids as armed men fire at checkpoint
Egyptian security forces arrest suspected militants after a firefight at the al-Goura settlement in Egypt's north Sinai region, about 15 km from the border with Israel, August 12, 2012
The Egyptian army and police continued its crackdown on Sinai militants on Tuesday as forces raided several cities, Ma'an's correspondent said.
Large numbers of military forces, together with special forces, launched operations in El-Arish, Sheikh Zuweid and surrounding villages early on Tuesday.
Witnesses told Ma'an that an Apache helicopter escorted ground forces.
The operation came as a group of armed men opened fire late Monday at a checkpoint in el-Arish city, a security source said. No injuries were reported.
A similar incident took place on Sunday when two men in a four-wheel-drive vehicle opened fire on a police station in the city. Police fired back but the men escaped, the source said.
Seven gunmen were killed on Sunday in a north Sinai village when Egyptian troops stormed the area, security officials said.
Five others were detained by the Egyptian army from al-Jora village near el-Arish.
The crackdown on militants is the largest military operation in the Sinai since Egypt's 1973 war with Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=512380
Frustrated Hamas seeks light at end of Egyptian tunnel
Hamas security forces patrol the border between Egypt and Gaza
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA CITY (Reuters) -- Hamas, stunned by Egypt's closure of its border with Gaza, said on Monday the new Islamist leadership in Cairo was imposing the same pain on the Palestinian enclave as ousted former president, Hosni Mubarak.
Egypt pulled the shutters down on the Rafah passenger terminal a week ago after unidentified militants shot dead 16 Egyptian police near the Gaza border before launching an attack on neighboring Israel that was swiftly smothered.
Hamas denied speculation that some of the assailants had crossed from Gaza and has accused Egypt, led since June by an Islamist president, Muhammad Mursi, of imposing collective punishment on the impoverished Palestinians.
"We suffered from the unjust regime of Mubarak that participated in the (Israeli) blockade of Gaza. Why should we suffer now in the era of Egypt's revolution and democracy?" said Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hammad.
"The Egyptian leadership is requested to order the reopening of the Rafah crossing to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians wanting to travel, students, patients, residents in third countries and pilgrims," he added in a statement.
Israel has for years refused exit visas for all but a tiny minority in Gaza, making Rafah the sole window on the world for almost all of the enclave's 1.7 million Palestinians, with some 800 people a day using the terminal to reach Egypt.
Since the closure, thousands have been stranded, although Cairo did order a brief opening on Friday to allow Palestinians trapped in Egypt to return home.
Egypt said on Monday it would open the crossing temporarily yet again, but just for three days, mainly to permit travel for humanitarian cases such as Palestinians seeking medical care abroad, and students, a Hamas official said.
"If Palestine was not a top priority for you, you should change direction," Hammad said in an unusually sharp rebuke.
Hamas believed Mursi would usher in a new period of harmony between Gaza and Cairo, but that has yet to materialize because of strategic considerations involving Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel and related military aid from the United States.
Tunnel clashes
Immediately after the Sinai killings, Hamas ordered the closure of around 1,000 smuggling tunnels along its border with Egypt to prevent possible infiltration by attackers.
Several tunnels have remained operational bringing food, fuel and construction materials into Gaza, but Hamas has said it would be willing to see all the underground passages closed if Egypt agreed to defy Israel and let goods flow through Rafah.
Israel maintains a strict control of all imports into Gaza. Mubarak, deeply suspicious of the Islamists, was happy to support the Gaza blockade.
In a call underscoring deep fissures within Palestinian society, Hamas's political foes have urged Egypt to destroy all the tunnels and starve the Islamist group of the multi-million dollar duties it imposes on smuggled produce.
"These tunnels, which solidified the division of Palestine in Gaza, have for some time been a threat to Egypt's national security and the unity of the Palestinian people," said Tayeb Abdel-Rahim, a top aide to President Mahmoud Abbas.
Abbas governs only in the nearby West Bank after Hamas defeated his forces in Gaza in a brief civil war in 2007.
"Illegal smuggling comes at the expense of the legitimate interests of our nation and its citizens," he added. His comments were denounced by Hamas, which called the tunnels a "lifeline" for Gaza's people.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=512331
Hamas Internal Minister: Egypt Ill-Treats Palestinians
Hebrew language media sources reported that leaders from Hamas criticized Egypt's security measures against the Gaza Strip, after an armed raid that led to the killing of 16 Egyptian soldiers near the border with Israel.
Although Palestinians reiterated that they were not involved in the attack, Egypt stepped up security around Gaza, leading to temporary closure of the Rafah border crossing.
A Hebrew broadcast published statements of the Internal Minister of Hamas, Fathi Hammad, who criticized the new Egyptian authorities and leveled accusations of ill-treatment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The broadcast claimed that the Hamas Internal Minister asked the Egyptian government to open Rafah crossing after it had been closed last week.
It added that some of Hamas leaders accused the Egyptian presidency for mistreating Palestinians in Gaza in the same way the ousted president Hosni Mubarak did.
The broadcast also quoted a press release issued by the Hamas Internal Minister Hammad in which he said that the Palestinians live under siege imposed by Israel and Egypt on the Gaza Strip and asked rhetorically "Why do we have to suffer now, in the era of revolution and democracy in Egypt?".
http://fwd4.me/17c4
New Details Exposed About Sinai Terror Attack
Names of some of the terrorists who carried out the attack in the Sinai Peninsula among the latest details revealed.
New details were revealed Monday about last week’s terror attack in the Sinai Peninsula, in which 16 Egyptian officers were killed and seven were wounded. Among the details published by the Bawaba al-Ahram website were also the names of some of the terrorists who carried out the attack.
The report identified the following terrorists:
Hatem A, 37, from Cairo;
Yihya A., 19, from Gharbia;
Mohammed M., 30, from Sinai;
Mohammed A S. from Gharbia; and
Mohammed M., who reportedly has Palestinian Authority citizenship.
An investigation into the attack by Egyptian intelligence revealed that Hatem A. came to Al-Arish about two months ago and bought farmland from one of the tribes in the Sinai. Hatem would arrive in the area often and resided in a tent he erected on the land he bought.
Residents in the area said, according to the Bawaba al-Ahram report, that Hatem would come to the area with other people who were driving in a modern SUV and riding a motorcycle. They observed that there was a correlation between his arrivals and the constant attacks that have been carried out on the pipeline which carries natural gas to Israel and Jordan.
Hatem’s activities seemed suspicious to local residents and led them to report Hatem to Egyptian intelligence. The report said that intelligence officials arrived in the Sinai a few days ago and conducted a thorough investigation. Local residents also said that Egyptian army forces arrived in a village located in the northern Sinai in recent days, where they encountered fire from terrorists. After the terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire, the soldiers found five anti-aircraft missiles, five mines, mortar shells, materials meant to produce explosives and a large amount of ammunition.
A report last week indicated that the terror group Army of Islam is behind last Sunday’s terror attack in the Sinai Peninsula. Army of Islam is an Al-Qaeda inspired Gaza-based terrorist group that wishes to see Gaza run by Muslim Sharia law.
Egypt has launched a crackdown on Sinai terrorism in response to the attack and violence has escalated in the region. On Monday, a group of armed men shot dead a tribal leader and his son on the border with Israel.
On Sunday, in a move that surprised both Israel and the United States, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi fired the leadership of the country's defense establishment.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/158877#.UComufVQFsU 15 aug 2012, 12:37 , Respect -
Maria 15 aug 2012
Gaza, The Weakest Link
By Yousef Al-Helou
Gaza City: In the wake of 6 August Sinai attack that left 16 Egyptian soldiers dead at the hands of unknown attackers, Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah border crossing- Gaza's only terminal that bypasses Israel leaving the costal territory largely cut off from the outside world. The underground tunnels between Gaza and Egypt have also been sealed. People here say the measure amounts to collective punishment as 1000 of passengers including chronically ill patients are stranded.
In recent days, Hamas officials in Gaza have made plea and called on authorities in Egypt to reopen the crossing once and for good, asserting their willingness to cooperate in the ongoing investigation and are eager too to find out who really was behind the attack.
Eight days later, Egypt reopened the pedestrian terminal temporarily yet again, but just for three days, mainly to permit travel for humanitarian cases such as patients seeking medical care abroad, and students.
Hamas officials welcomed the move and called for further steps to alleviate the suffering of impoverished Gazans living in what known the world's largest open-air prison.
"We value the Egyptian decision to reopen the Rafah crossing and call for the permanent full opening of the terminal and implement steps promised by the Egyptian president Mohammad Morsi. Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesperson said in a statement.
Ordinary people in Gaza said they understand the feeling of their fellow Egyptians following the Sinai attack but said that the closure of the crossing is unjustified.
"We want sister Egypt under the leadership of the new president to respond to the people's demands in neighboring Gaza to reopen the Rafah crossing permanently 24/7 in order to spare Gaza more hardships and miseries under over 5 years of ongoing sea and land blockade", a Gazan trader.
While the people of Gaza continue to show solidarity with Egyptians following the bloody attack by unknown assailants, the mode in Gaza is one of disappointment, as it seems Gaza would be the main political victim of the attack.
"We the Palestinian and Egyptians are one nation; we should not pay a heavy price for the brutal crime, until now there is no proof linking the incident to Gaza. We are eager to know who was behind the ugly massacre, but it is obvious that some from here and there exploited what happened to serve their interests", another Gazan said.
However, one must also seriously ask who gains from this attack in Sinai which some within Egypt tried to blame Hamas for. A political expert said that Israel has exploited the attack by putting more pressure on Egypt in order to regain its security control of Sinai.
"It is still unclear who was behind this terrorist attack against the Egyptian soldiers and army, but it seems to me that Israel is exploiting the situation to its own benefits and interests by putting more pressure on Egypt to regain its security control of Sinai, and I think this attack is also serving the high military council in Egypt by putting more pressure on the newly elected president from the Muslim brotherhood organization by basically narrowing the relationship with Hamas in Gaza". Mukhaimer Abu Seda, independent Political Analyst said
No one has claimed responsibility for Sunday's assault over a week ago, in which 16 Egyptian police officers ambushed and shot dead in an attack on a security post near the border in Sinai.
Following the attack, The Defacto government of Hamas in Gaza ordered the closure of the tunnels on the Gaza side to prevent possible infiltration by attackers.
For its part, the PA president Mahmoud Abbas has publicly supported Egypt's new plan to destroy the tunnels, saying the tunnels did not contribute to the economy in the Gaza Strip and were being used only by a small number of people for personal gain.
A top aid to PA's president accused fundamentalists of being behind the attacks and that some came from Gaza, these comments were denounced by Hamas saying that the PA's move contradicts all values and ethics and national responsibilities and accused Abbas of "cheap opportunism".
The ordinary people of Gaza who continue to suffer under years of siege and split between Hamas ruled Gaza and the western-backed PA in the West Bank, found themselves trapped between a rock and a hard place.
The Gaza strip a costal territory, 25 miles long, 8 miles wide, is a home to about 1.7 million people.
Israel with the help of ousted dictator Husni Mubarak placed the tiny sliver under a ?crippling blockade following Hamas' takeover of the costal territory, this has forced Gazans to resort to underground tunnels to bring in their basic supplies and needs, such as consumer goods, fuel, construction and raw materials.
The tunnels described as the lifeline that provided for 80% of goods in Gaza over since the siege came into effect in 2007. Now with the closure of the tunnels this will make the already dire situation even worse.
But as a matter of fact, some tunnel owners have become very rich, brining and smuggling all sort of things. The network of tunnels along the border with Egypt is controlled and monitored by Hamas.
What concerns people in the tiny sliver is the way how both rivals in the two separated geographical entities widen the division by avoiding implementing the national reconciliation agreements agreed in previous years, some blame Hamas, other blame Fatah, and those who blame both for failing to put the national interests above their factional considerations.
You will hear people who call for the dissolving of the PA in the West Bank, and dissolving the Hamas government in Gaza.
"We need one strong leadership, we need liberators not beggars. We need a responsible leadership that puts the national interests above all factional and personal considerations, we are tired and sick of this situation, the Palestinian liberation project has vanished and you have two parties who care only about their interests"
And as Israel still in full control of Gaza's air space, territorial waters and border crossing, it remains to be seen how the relationship between Fatah, Hamas and Egypt would look like, especially in light of the bad security situation in Sinai and the hidden fingers behind the latest bloody attack.
Yousef Al-Helou, freelance journalist from Gaza, can be reached via [email protected]
http://fwd4.me/17fq
Hamas: We Will Form a Joint Committee with Egypt to Investigate Sinai Attacks
Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahranot said that Sources in Hamas announced that the government in Gaza will form a temporary security committee with Egypt to investigate last week's Sinai terror attack resulted the death of 16 Egyptian soldiers.
The newspaper also said that sources in Hamas announced that the government in Gaza agreed with Egypt to set up a joint committee to increase the security cooperation between the sides and to investigate Sinai terror attack.
Yediot Ahranot revealed that the committee includes representatives and senior officials from the Internal Ministry in the Gaza Strip, and will be headed by a senior officer from the Egyptian General Intelligence Service.
It also revealed that Hamas view the establishment of the committee as formal and exceptional Egyptian recognition of Hamas and its government in Gaza.
http://fwd4.me/17fl 18 aug 2012, 15:23 , Respect -
Maria 16 aug 2012
Report: “Salafist Group Claims Responsibility For Firing Rockets Into Eilat”
Israeli Central Issues newspaper reported, Thursday morning, claimed that a group known as the “Egyptian Salasfist Front” in northern Sinai claimed responsibility for firing two missiles into Eilat coastal city. The missiles landed and exploded in an open area leading to no injuries or damages.
The Central Issues said that the group issued a statement officially claiming responsibility for the attack, adding that the group is also behind several previous attacks that targeted Egyptian gas pipelines providing Israel and Jordan with gas.
The paper said claimed members of the Salafist group came from Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan, and that they have been operating in Sinai and planning attacks against Israel, and against Egyptian targets in Sinai, including the Egyptian military.
The group is also believed to be behind the recent attack against an Egyptian military base in Sinai leading to the death of 16 Egyptian soldiers.
The Eilat bombing took place on Thursday at dawn leading to no damages of injuries. Israeli sources reported that two Grad missiles were fired into Eilat, and that the army and the police managed to pinpoint the location where the missiles fell, close to Coral Beach Hotel. The Police closed streets in the area and started a search campaign.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64077
20 aug 2012, 09:05 , Respect -
Maria 18 aug 2012
Egypt releases 18 Palestinians for Eid al-Fitr
Egyptian authorities released 18 Palestinians from prison on Saturday as a gesture for the Eid al-Fitr holiday, a security source said.
The released detainees had all entered Egypt illegally and were arrested at security checkpoints in the Sinai.
The group, including two women, will return to the Gaza Strip.
Disorder has been spreading in North Sinai, a region awash with guns that feels neglected by the central government since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak last year in a popular uprising. Mubarak's government had worked closely with Israel to secure the border region.
Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi, who took office in June, has promised to restore stability.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=513338
Report: Egypt airports to refuse access for Palestinians
Palestinians flying to Egypt over the Eid al-Fitr holiday will not be allowed to enter the country, al-Ahram news site reported Saturday.
Airport authorities informed airlines that Palestinians will not be allowed to enter Egypt because the Rafah crossing is closed until Wednesday, the Egyptian news site said.
Egypt opened the border crossing on Tuesday for three days but have now closed it for the Eid al-Fitr holiday. Head of the customs authority at Cairo airport Magdi el-Seman said that Palestinians wanting to return to Gaza will have to wait until Wednesday, when the border is scheduled to be reopened.
After gunmen killed 16 Egyptian border guards in August, Egypt closed its border with the Gaza Strip and sealed smuggling tunnels that provide a lifeline to the besieged territory.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=513337
Egypt forces wounded after Sinai arrest raid
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Egyptian police and army officers detained five people, including Palestinians, in two military operations after dawn on Saturday in the northern Sinai peninsula.
Forces arrested two Palestinians who had been under surveillance for some time in the Safa district of Sinai city el-Arish, Egyptian security officials said.
Security officers found quantities of drugs, but no weapons, during the campaign, which took place at dawn on Saturday.
The suspects were transferred to the Security Directorate of North Sinai to complete legal proceedings.
Egyptian forces also detained a man suspected of firing 15 rocket propelled grenades at Egyptian forces during the storming of a house in Sheikh Zuwaid on Wednesday.
Forces also seized two members of Islamist group Takfir and Jihad during the operation in Bab Sidot village near Rafah.
Three Egyptian policemen and a soldier were wounded when their vehicles came under fire from RPG rockets while returning from Rafah to el-Arish, the officials added.
"The forces were entrapped by extremists when they were returning from a raid in Rafah ... one armored vehicle was targeted by a rocket," the source said. They could not identify or pursue the attackers, he added.
Egypt has launched a crackdown against suspected Islamist militants in Sinai since an Aug. 5 attack on a military position that killed 16 Egyptian troops, by gunmen Israel killed after they subsequently stormed the Israeli border.
Egypt blamed the border attack on "Islamic militants" and has launched a joint army-police operation that has raided militant hideouts, arrested their members and seized weapons.
Disorder has been spreading in turbulent North Sinai, a region awash with guns that has felt neglected by the central government since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak last year in a popular uprising. Mubarak's government had worked closely with Israel to keep the border region under control.
A Sinai-based Islamist militant organization, the Salafi Jihadi Group, warned the Egyptian army last week that the crackdown on jihadists in the area would force it to fight back.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=513319 22 aug 2012, 09:23 , Respect -
Maria 19 aug 2012
Israel Asks Egypt to Take Armor Out of Sinai – Report
Egyptian armor enters Rafah
The Israeli government has asked Egypt to withdraw the armored vehicles it deployed in Sinai ten days ago, in contravention of the peace treaty between the two nations, according to Al-Quds Al-Arabi, which quotes Israeli sources.
Israel said that the deployment of armored forces in the EL Arish area was only reported to it retroactively by Egypt, after the forces had already been deployed. Once Egypt supplied Israel with the full details about the extent of the deployment, the Jewish state asked Egypt to withdraw its armor from northern Sinai.
"Security sources" told the paper that this is a moment in which the relations between Egypt's new regime and Israel are being tested. An Israeli source added that Egypt asked that the forces be deployed in Sinai until the end of the military operation against terrorists there, but that Israel does not know when the operation is scheduled to end.
Residents of El Arish in northern Sinai reported on August 9 that the Egyptian military had sent reinforcements of "unprecedented" size into the peninsula, according to the Egyptian Al Ahram newspaper. The forces reportedly include 60 tanks on 30 tank-transporters, 12 armored personnel carriers, 15 additional armored vehicles, more than 20 armored jeeps and 10 Military Police jeeps.
There was also a report that no less than 400 'Fahd' armored vehicles were sent into the Sinai.
http://fwd4.me/17u2
Haneyya: We are ready for security cooperation with Egypt
Palestinian premier in Gaza Ismail Haneyya has emphasized preparedness to forge closer security cooperation with Egypt in order to protect joint security.
Haneyya, during a sermon on the occasion of Eidul Fitr on Sunday, renewed condemnation of the attack on Egyptian soldiers in Sinai.
“Yes, we are with security coordination but not with the Zionist enemy but rather with our brothers and our Arab and strategic depth so as to achieve stability and progress and welfare,” the premier said.
He stressed that Gaza would never pose a threat to Egypt or its people, and re-asserted that the Palestinian people would never think of relinquishing their land and opt to settle in Sinai.
Haneyya asked the Egyptian leadership not to heed attempts to drive a wedge between the Palestinians and the Egyptian people.
http://fwd4.me/17u6 22 aug 2012, 10:22 , Respect -
Maria 21 aug 2012
Israel Wants Egypt To Withdraw Its Tanks From Sinai
Israeli Paper, Maariv, reported Tuesday that the Israeli government demanded Egypt to withdraw its tanks from the Sinai Peninsula after Cairo deployed them to counter extremist groups operating in the area.
Maariv said that the office of Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, sent a letter to the Egyptian leadership through the White House, asking Cairo to remove its tanks.
Israel said that deploying further Egyptian soldiers in Sinai without prior coordination, is considered a serious violation to the peace agreement between the two countries.
Yet, on Monday, several Israeli military and security officials said that said that they are in direct communication with Cairo and that they encouraged the newly-elected Islamist leadership to act decisively against the armed groups in Sinai.
The peace agreement of 1979, singed under American supervision, imposes restrictions on the deployment of the Egyptian army in Sinai.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64095
Egypt Prepares To Use Tanks, Air Force, In Sinai
Egyptian security sources reported that the country is preparing to use its Air Force and Tanks to counter armed groups and arms smugglers operating in the Sinai Peninsula.
This will be the first tome Egypt deploys tanks and the Air Force in Sinai, since the 1973 war with Israel.
Reuters reported that the new Egyptian Defense Minister, Abdul-Fattah As-Seesy, is conducting the final touches to the military plan.
The Minister first visited Sinai after armed extremists attacked an Egyptian military base on August 5th, killing 16 Egyptian Border Guards; several soldiers were wounded in the attack.
Following the attack, Egypt carried out a large military operation, attacked several places used by armed groups, and managed to locate and confiscate several weapons and large caches of ammunition.
Furthermore, an Egyptian military source said that the army is planning to impose a siege on Al-Halal Mountain, in the center of Sinai, and intends to bombard it using tanks and war-jets.
It is worth mentioning that the peace agreement of 1979, singed under American supervision, imposes restrictions on the deployment of the Egyptian army in Sinai.
In recent years, Israel allowed the deployment of further Egyptian military units in the area in order to counter the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip, and criminal groups operating in Sinai.
Also, senior Israeli military and security officials said that they are in direct communication with Cairo and that they encouraged the newly-elected Islamist leadership to act decisively against the armed groups in Sinai.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64092
Egypt deployment of armor in Sinai worries Israel
Israel is concerned about the deployment of Egyptian armor in a push against militants in the neighboring Sinai desert, saying the vehicles' entry wasn't coordinated and is in violation of a 1979 peace treaty, an Israeli official said Monday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has not lodged any formal protest preferring to try and resolve the issue in quiet contacts including US mediation, to avoid worsening ties with Cairo already strained since Hosni Mubarak was toppled by a popular revolt last year.
Egyptian security sources said this week they were preparing to deploy aircraft and tanks in Sinai for the first time since a 1973 war with Israel, in a crackdown on Islamist militants blamed for killing 16 border guards in an Aug. 5 attack.
The US-brokered 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel sets strict limits on military deployment in the Sinai.
The Israeli official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said Egypt had already sent "some" armored vehicles into the desert peninsula and that "Israel is bothered by the entry of armored vehicles in Sinai without coordination."
Egyptian television footage showed General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Sinai addressing troops with tanks and heavy equipment behind them. Other images from his visit broadcast by Egypt's private ON TV showed a row of six tanks and five armored personnel carriers.
While Israel does not view the armor as a threat, the official said, it wants to make sure it has a say over what weaponry is deployed in the Sinai, which the peace treaty intended as a demilitarized buffer zone.
"There is no precedent for armored vehicles being deployed in Sinai and certainly not without any coordination," he said.
Israel had urged Egypt to crack down on the militants, and its security cabinet had approved an Egyptian request to use attack helicopters in Sinai two weeks ago, after the Islamist gunmen who attacked Egypt's security personnel also penetrated Israel's border where they were killed.
But local media say Israel was worried coordination with Egypt may suffer after a shakeup this month of Egypt's military, including Islamist President Mohammed Mursi's dismissals of officials Israel had long been in contact with.
In Cairo, Yasser Ali, a spokesman for Mursi, told Reuters security measures in Sinai were "crucial" to Egypt's security.
An Egyptian military source told Reuters the Sinai security sweep was in keeping with agreements reached with Israel a year ago after eight Israelis died in a cross-border attack.
"We don't need to issue a daily report to Israel on the operation as it is a matter of sovereignty and national security," the source went on to say.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=513572
Abu Marzouk regrets media coverage of the Sinai attack
Deputy political bureau chairman of Hamas Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk has regretted the fact that some of the Egyptian writers were blaming Gaza for the attack on Egyptian soldiers in Sinai.
He said on Monday night that the notorious incident in Sinai in which 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed should be rather blamed on Israel.
He regretted that those writers acquitted the “Zionist enemy” and incriminated Gaza and the Palestinian people in general, describing such a situation as “weird” because it turned enemies into friends and friends into enemies.
Abu Marzouk was speaking at a “Jerusalemite night” organized by the Quds Committee affiliated with the Arab Doctors Union to celebrate Eid Al-Fitr and to commemorate the anniversary of the burning of the holy Aqsa mosque at the hands of a Jewish fanatic on 21st August 1969.
http://fwd4.me/180M 22 aug 2012, 10:22 , Respect -
Maria 22 aug 2012
Israel, Egypt in talks over Sinai campaign
Israel and Egypt are negotiating over allowing increased forces into the Sinai, after Israeli officials complained about the buildup of armor in the region.
An Egyptian military source said Wednesday that both sides were meeting at the Kerem Shalom crossing. The talks have generated "remarkable progress," the source told Ma'an.
Israeli officials say Egypt has violated the terms of the Camp David agreement, which limits Egyptian military activity in Sinai. Egyptian officials say they have to continue the buildup.
Speaking to Ma'an, an Egyptian army source said officials had met with Israeli military leaders in the Kerem Shalom area at least six times over the past three days.
The source said Israel was worried about the instability in the Sinai, and the buildup of forces to counter it.
Israel has indicated that it understands Egypt's position even though it opposes some of the weaponry being brought into the Sinai, the official explained.
An Israeli army spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The activity follows an attack on a police barracks near Rafah in which 16 Egyptian officers were killed.
Egypt is believed to have increased its military presence in Sinai after the Aug. 5 attack, and sent tanks and aircraft to the area without seeking Israeli permission first.
Egypt blamed the border attack on "Islamic militants" and has launched a joint army-police operation that has raided militant hideouts, arrested their members and seized weapons.
A Sinai-based Islamist militant organization, the Salafi Jihadi Group, warned the Egyptian army last week that the crackdown on jihadis in the area would force it to fight back.
There have been frequent reports of attacks on police and army checkpoints since the crackdown began, but often without casualties.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=513781
Israeli Media: “Egypt’s Military Activities In Sinai, Coordinated With Israel”
Israeli Channel 7 reported that Israeli and Egyptian officials confirmed that the Egyptian military activities, targeting armed extremists in Sinai, are conducted in coordination with Israel.
Channel 7 quoted an Egyptian official stating that media reports about tension between Tel Aviv and Cairo are false, adding that the deployment of Egyptian Tanks and armored vehicles in Sinai was conducted in direct coordination with Israel.
The official allegedly said that “the war against terrorist groups in Sinai is a joint Egyptian-Israeli interest”, and that “there is an agreement between the two countries regarding the current operations”.
It is worth mentioning that Amos Gilad, Director of Policy and Political-Military Affairs at the Israel Ministry of Defense, stated that “Israel is not concerned about the deployment of Egyptian tanks in Sinai, and the military operations there”.
Gilad confirmed that all military operations in Sinai are conducted in direct and ongoing coordination with Israel.
Furthermore, the United States said that it supports Egypt’s operations in Sinai, and said that Egypt must ensure it does not violate the Camp David peace agreement with Israel.
The U.S. Administration said that Washington believes that the Egyptian military operations “do not only serve the interests of Egypt, but also serve the interests of all countries in the region”.
An Egyptian military source also said that the operations in Sinai target “terrorist groups”, and that “all activities were coordinated with Israel’, the Palestine News Network reported.
The source told Reuters that Cairo is not obliged to provide Israel with daily reports regarding its military activities; “as such operations are sovereign actions that are meant to protect Egypt and its national security”.
Several Egyptian media outlets said that a number of tanks were also deployed in Al-Arish city “to protect it from any infiltration or attacks by terrorist groups”.
Israel recently objected to the deployment of tanks and artillery in the “no-weapons zone” in Sinai, and said that this issue violates the peace agreement between the two countries.
The deployment of heavy equipment in Sinai did not lead to a crisis between Cairo and Tel Aviv, despite media reports claiming tension between the two countries.
On Monday, several Israeli military and security officials said that said that they are in direct communication with Cairo and that they encouraged the newly-elected Islamist leadership to act decisively against the armed groups in Sinai.
The peace agreement of 1979, singed under American supervision, imposes restrictions on the deployment of the Egyptian army in Sinai.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64101 24 aug 2012, 08:46 , Respect -
Maria 24 aug 2012
Morsi Passes Law Against Detention For Media Crimes in First Legislative Act
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi passed a law against detention for media-related crimes, in his first use of legislative powers since he took the powers back from the army earlier this month.
The law, issued on Thursday, will prevent the detention pending trial of defendants in cases where the offences are related to media, presidential spokesman Yasser Ali confirmed to Reuters.
Morsi's announcement came just hours after a court had ordered the detention pending trial of the editor-in-chief of an opposition newspaper, who had been charged with insulting the President.
Islam Afifi, editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Al-Dostour, and an outspoken opponent of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, was charged with another journalist last week by Egyptian state prosecutors. A court ordered on Thursday that Afifi should be detained pending trial over the charges, and that the case would be adjourned until September 16th.
Before Morsi passed the new legislation, Afifi told Reuters that his detention was a "real test", and called on "every apparatus of state to stand against attempts to suppress and silence voices."
On August 12th, Morsi dismissed his army-appointed Defence Minister, as well as other top generals, and rescinded an army-issued decree that gave the military council SCAF legislative powers in the absence of parliament. The army had previously dissolved the elected, Islamist-led parliament.
However, Morsi's moves to take back legislative and executive powers led critics to charge that the new president was concentrating too much power in his hands.
Morsi had also been criticised when the Islamist-dominated upper house of Parliament, which was not dissolved by the army, appointed new editors of several state newspapers. This had been common practice under Mubarak's regime, but critics argued that Morsi should have done away with this.
http://fwd4.me/18AA
Egypt detains 4 masked men at Rafah crossing
Egyptian forces seized four masked men attempting to sneak through the Rafah crossing into the Gaza Strip early Friday, a security official told Ma'an.
The group were found to be unarmed, the Egyptian official said. Their nationality was not immediately clear.
The official said the men were taken for investigation.
On Thursday, the crossing director in Gaza said the Egyptian authorities will re-open the Rafah terminal for three days a week, starting next week.
The crossing was closed after gunmen killed 16 Egyptian border guards on Aug. 6 south of Rafah.
Officials in Gaza insist Palestinians were not involved and are pressing Egypt to fully reopen the border - the blockaded strip's only entry and exit point not controlled by Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=514073
Clinton urges Egypt, Israel to talk on Sinai
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Egypt's foreign minister to keep lines of communication open with Israel amid tensions over an Egyptian push against militants in the neighboring Sinai desert, the State Department said Thursday.
Clinton spoke with Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr on Wednesday and stressed the importance of acting transparently as Cairo deploys aircraft and tanks in Sinai, for the first time since a 1973 war with Israel, to pursue Islamist militants blamed for killing 16 border guards in an Aug. 5 attack.
"This call was in keeping with a series of contacts we've had in recent days with both Egyptians and Israelis encouraging both sides to keep the lines of communication open," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
Israeli officials have expressed concern over the Egyptian deployment, saying the vehicles' entry into the Sinai was not coordinated and was in violation of a 1979 peace treaty.
But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has not lodged a formal protest, preferring to try and resolve the issue in quiet contacts including US mediation to avoid worsening ties with Cairo, already strained since Hosni Mubarak was toppled by a popular revolt last year.
Nuland said the Sinai security situation should be addressed "in a way that first and foremost strengthens Egypt's security but also has a positive impact on the security of neighbors and the region as a whole."
Nuland declined to say whether the United States believed Egypt had been insufficiently transparent or failed to keep Israel informed.
"Our view is that effective mechanisms do exist and that they just need to continue to be used," she said.
The US-brokered 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel sets strict limits on military deployment in the Sinai, which is designated as a demilitarized buffer zone.
But Israeli media have speculated that coordination with Egypt may suffer after a shakeup this month of Egypt's military, including Islamist President Mohammed Mursi's dismissals of officials Israel had long been in contact with.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=514055