Israel Matzav

This is rich: Hamas slams Egypt for 'collective punishment'

Sorry for the extra light posting on Monday - we made a Bar Mitzva celebration for son # 3 child # 6 on Monday night, which also happened to be Mrs. Carl's and my 31st anniversary.

In light of Sunday's attack on an Egyptian military post, Egypt has re-closed its border with Gaza at Rafah. The 'Palestinians' are whining that it's 'collective punishment.' Sound familiar?

Egypt's decision to shut the Rafah border crossing in the aftermath of the attack drew sharp criticism from Palestinians.

Musa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, described the decision as "collective punishment." He vehemently denied that some of the terrorists had emerged from the Gaza Strip.

Hamas and other Palestinian groups, meanwhile, dismissed claims about the involvement of terrorists from the Gaza Strip in the attack, which resulted in the deaths of 16 Egyptian soldiers.

Hamas deployed hundreds of policemen along the border with Egypt to prevent terrorists from infiltrating into the Gaza Strip from Sinai, announced Gamal al-Jarrah, a top Hamas security commander.

Maybe they ought to be looking to prevent terrorists from infiltrating into Sinai from the Gaza Strip too....

He said that the Hamas government has also issued orders to close down all the underground tunnels along the border and to do their utmost to help reveal the identity of the terrorists.

On Monday, an IDF spokesman told Israel Radio that the Egyptians could stop the smuggling and the terror attacks if they wanted to - it's a question of priorities. But the idea of Hamas actually doing something to stop terrorism is a farce.

A spokesman for the Hamas government claimed the attack was an Israeli "attempt to tamper with Egyptian security and drive a wedge between the Egyptians and the residents of the Gaza Strip."

Of course.... And they're not the only ones blaming Israel. Read the whole thing.

The way things work in Sinai, the best bet is some independent Bedouin tribe trying to settle a score that has nothing to do with Israel... and maybe not with Hamas either.

Labels: Arab terrorism, Egypt, Gaza, Hamas, Rafah

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:38 AM