Israel Matzav

Egypt may have arrested part of Sinai terror cell five days before Eilat Aqaba attack

Egyptian authorities say that they arrested three men with bomb making equipment in Sinai five days before Hamas terrorists shot five Grad rockets at Eilat and Aqaba last Sunday.

According to Sunday's report, Egypt's Sinai security forces apprehended three men in a vehicle five days prior to the attack, with equipment and material that could be used to assemble bombs and improvised explosive devices in their possession.

While Egyptian sources indicated that they saw a connection between the arrested squad and last week's attack, no evidence of such a link has yet been found.

The al-Sharq al-Awsat report added that news of the arrest had initially been held by Egyptian authorities in an attempt to maintain the summer tourism season, and to prevent injury against the tourist sites in the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

On Friday, Palestinian security officials claimed the commander of Hamas' military wing in Rafah, Raed al-Atar, was responsible for ordering the firing of Grad-type Katyusha rockets at Eilat and Aqaba.

That report came as the Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported yesterday that Egypt had declared a state of emergency in the Sinai Peninsula as part of a manhunt for the militants who fired the rockets.

Hamas had steered clear from carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli targets from the territory of a third country, and it certainly has not targeted Jordan. But Hamas members have been arrested on their way to attack Israeli targets in Egypt.

In Jordan many Hamas operatives have been arrested, along with weapons that apparently were part of a plan to strike Jordanian targets or Israeli targets in Amman.

A day after the rocket attacks the Jordanians said they knew who was behind the operation, until Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday that the attacks were carried out by Hamas.

If Hamas is indeed guilty, the incident may worsen relations between the Palestinian Islamist group and Egypt and Jordan.

Hmmm.

It's not clear to me whether Egypt is holding the three people they arrested or whether they let them go before last Sunday. It would be a shame if they let them go.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:22 PM