Israel has "clear information that Hamas is supporting the Wilayat
Sinai, which belongs to Daesh," Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the
coordinator of government activities in the territories, claimed,
referring to the Islamic State group in one of its acronyms.
He added that Hamas provided the Islamist group
weapons and logistical support, and even smuggled wounded militants for
treatment in the Gaza Strip. "I am confident in this [information] and I
have proof," he said.
The IDF has decided that this entire story is too close for comfort: Route 12 near the Egyptian border will be closed from 5:00 am Friday Israel time.
The decision was made by Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon with the
recommendation of IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot. The closing
of the road was defined by the military as temporary.
One of the attacks was carried out only four
kilometers from the border with Israel, an officer in the IDF Southern
Command said on Thursday. In response, the Israeli military has
intensified its intelligence gathering efforts in the area.
Temporary until what? Until ISIS is defeated? Until Hamas stops supporting them? Doesn't sound like much of a plan, does it?
The Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Egypt reopened on
Thursday after it was closed for 24 hours due to the battles raging in
Sinai. However, the Nitzana crossing remained closed.
The real question is whether the Gaza crossings are open - and if yes, why?
Israel to offer international airlines use of Eilat's Uvda airport
I know that many of you think that we have only one international airport, but in fact we have two. Uvda Airport outside of Eilat has been used by charter flights from Europe in the winter for many years and is capable of handling many commercial passenger jets (that's a Boeing 737 in the picture). From Noon on Wednesday Israel time (around when this post will go live), the State of Israel is offering the use of Uvda to foreign airlines who are afraid to use Ben Gurion.
Speaking to reporters at Ben-Gurion Airport, Katz said that Uvda
would begin operating at noon local time. The minister said that efforts
are also being made to provide service to some 4,000 Israelis who were
left stranded in Istanbul after their airlines refused to fly into Lod
in light of the FAA ban announced on Tuesday.
Katz said that his
ministry had urged Turkish aviation officials to transport the Israelis
back home, but that the Turks are hesitant to land their aircraft in
Uvda.
Israel Radio reported on Wednesday that US Airways will renew its regular fights to Israel beginning on Thursday.
Well, maybe. If the FAA doesn't renew the ban. But we won't know that until about 7:15 tonight Israel time. In the meantime, you can find statistics on Uvda (or Ovda) here. I note that it says that the airport cannot operate at night. If that's true, it won't be much of a solution for the foreign airlines.
A reminder once again that I am in the US where the Sabbath doesn't start for nearly three hours and that's why I'm posting when it's the Sabbath already in Israel.
So who guessed where the rain-flooded street is located? Would you believe Eilat?
Terrorist who planned 2011 attack on Eilat blows himself up
The terrorist who planned the 2011 attacks on Eilat blew himself up last week when the car in which he was driving crashed, setting off his bomb.
Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem) announced on Friday that
Tawfiq Mohamed Fareej, one of its founders died in the car accident, AFP
reported.
Fareej led the August 2011 crossborder attack in Israel that killed
eight people and he was also involved in a failed assassination attempt
on the Egyptian interior minister, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis said in a
statement, according to the report.
State-run news website
Al-Ahram also reported that Fareej had died, but said he was killed by
an army raid in the Sinai peninsula. The army was not immediately
available to comment on this.
The 2011 attack was a three-stage
terrorist attack along Israel’s border with Egypt which began when
terrorists opened fire at an Egged bus traveling on Road 12 near Eilat.
Several
minutes later, a number of bombs went off next to an IDF patrol
traveling along the border with Egypt. There were also reports of mortar
fire from Egypt into Israel. The terrorists apparently then moved on to
another spot and fired an anti-tank missile at another vehicle.
'Palestinian' terrorists have apparently shot at least two Grad rockets at the southern city of Eilat this evening. No physical injuries or damage have been reported.
A number of blasts were heard in the southern city Eilat on Monday evening.
Israel Police, Border Police and IDF sources were sent to the area to
investigate the source the blasts, an army spokeswoman said.
Channel 2 reported one Grad rocket was found at an open field outside of
the city and another fell inside the city. The IDF could not at present
confirm these reports.
No injuries or damage were reported.
The southern resort city was previously attacked with rockets fired by Islamist militants from the Sinai Peninsula.
Note that I said 'physical injuries or damage.' I don't believe it's possible to live like this in the long run. Having the rockets shot down - even a high percentage of them - is not a substitute for being rocket free.
Terrorists fired a rocket at Eilat shortly before 1 a.m. on Tuesday
morning, triggering an air raid siren and activating the Iron Dome
anti-rocket battery, which is stationed at the Red Sea city.
The Iron Dome system intercepted at least one rocket, according to initial IDF assessments.
It is unknown at this stage whether additional rockets fell in open areas outside of the city.
Residents reported hearing the siren and a number of blasts.
A drone strike against jihadis who were about to launch rockets at southern Israel from northern Sinai on Friday may, or may not, have been carried out by Israel.
Egyptian security officials alleged that an Israeli drone strike
today killed five jihadists near Rafah. "The officials say the attack
was in cooperation with Egyptian authorities," the Associated Press reported. The jihadists were reportedly preparing to fire rockets toward Israel, according to Ma'an News Agency.
Agence France Presse cautioned that "[t]he source of the strike was not immediately clear." Turkish news agencies reported that Egyptian helicopters had carried out the attack that killed the jihadists. The Times of Israel similarly reported, based on comments from an Egyptian official, that "the strike was carried out by the Egyptian military, and not the IDF."
An Israeli official, however, reportedly confirmed to ABC News that Israel was responsible for the strike. Five Egyptian sources told Reuters that Israel was responsible for the strike, which they said killed four jihadists, not five.
Is this plausible? Definitely. If it was coordinated, would the Egyptians want to cover that fact? No question. Now, look what comes next.
A couple of hours later, the army released a new statement, which said the incident was still being investigated but that reports suggesting an Israeli drone was responsible were false.
"The claim that there is coordination between the Egyptian and
Israeli sides on this matter is totally false and contrary to reason and
logic," an army spokesman said.
Note - he doesn't deny that the Israelis did it. Only that it was coordinated with Egypt. Let's think about this logically. Four or five jihadis are about to launch rockets. They see a helicopter approaching in the distance. Wouldn't you think they'd try to hit the helicopter? But apparently, they didn't. Of course, it would be much harder to hit a drone....
But the claim of no coordination between Israel and Egypt is also totally false.
Today's incident comes a day after Israeli authorities closed Eilat's
airport for a few hours due to a security assessment. Egyptian officials
today said that a warning from them regarding plots by jihadists in the
Sinai was shared with Israeli officials and led to the airport closure.
A C-130 Hercules aircraft flying from Bahrain to
Jordan and the Arkia plane came within two miles of each other,
according to reports.
The military aircraft tried to land at the
Eilat Airport believing it was the King Hussein International Airport in
Aqaba. The Israeli control tower helped the US plane make it to Jordan.
It was the second time in two weeks that there has been a near-miss over Eilat.
You would think that since we are at peace with Egypt, an El Al plane flying into Egypt would not be a big deal. You'd be wrong. El Al waited a month to disclose this evening that one of its jets nearly crashed into a mountain near Eilat - on the borders with Egypt and Jordan - and avoided the crash by flying into Egypt.
An El-Al aircraft carrying more than 100 passengers nearly collided with
a mountain near Eilat last month rendering the pilots to avert the
summit flying deep into Egyptian territory, Channel 10 reported Sunday.
After
receiving orders from the flight control tower to avert landing, the
pilots, navigating without instruments, were confused making rounds and
lost direction, according to the report.
The pilots guided the 737 aircraft 200 meters above the top of the mountain moments before an imminent crash.
I'm so glad that JPost has translators who write English good. I hope you'll forgive me if I do some editing.
An El-Al aircraft carrying more than 100 passengers nearly collided withcrashed into a mountain near Eilat last month renderingforcing the pilots to avertavoid the
summit by flying deep into Egyptian territory, Channel 10 reported Sunday.
After
receiving orders from the flight control tower to avertabort their landing, the
pilots, navigating without instruments, were confused making roundswhile circling the airport and
lost direction, according to the report.
The pilots guided the 737 aircraft 200 meters above the top of the mountain moments before an imminentbarely avoiding a crash.
And no, I don't want a job editing there....
But I find it quite amazing that this was a big enough deal that it wasn't disclosed for a month.
Security forces have named the targeted man as 24-year-old Hitham
Mashal, a resident of northern Gaza. Mashal was active in multiple Salafi-jihadi
organizations, and was a weapons expert linked to last month’s twin rocket
attack on Eilat, security forces said.
The Shin Bet (Israel Security
Agency) and the IDF jointly carried out Tuesday’s air strike, which occurred at
10 a.m.
“Mashal dealt in the manufacturing, upgrading and trade of
firearms, particularly rockets and bombs, which he delivered to various terror
organizations for profit, and to promote terrorism against the IDF and Israeli
civilians,” the Shin Bet added.
Mashal provided arms to the Ashura
Council of Holy Fighters in the Environs of Jerusalem, a global jihadi
organization that fired rockets on Eilat and at the western Negev earlier this
month.\
“Mashal was involved in promoting and carrying out [the Eilat]
attack,” the Shin Bet said. “His activity was known to Hamas, which refrained
from stopping him.”
The two Grad rockets fired at the southern resort city Eilat last
week were likely fired by a terrorist cell originating from Gaza and
operating at the Sinai peninsula, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said
at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.
The prime
minister vowed to respond to the attack. "We will not accept this, we
will exact a price," Netanyahu said. "This has been our consistent
policy in the last four years and we will use it now as well," he added.
A Salafi jihadist group claimed responsibility for the attack on Wednesday morning.
“The
lions of the Mujahedeen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem
managed to target occupied Eilat with two Grad rockets on the morning of
April 17, and withdrew safely,” a statement posted on jihadist websites
said.
It wouldn't be convenient to admit that Egypt is allowing attacks on us from its territory, would it? So we blame Hamas in Gaza and of course do nothing about it since this attack did not come from Hamas in Gaza. So the terrorists in Sinai get a free pass to keep attacking us.
'For $3 billion per year, we won't openly support terrorism'
Egypt is making all the 'right' noises about Wednesday's rocket attack on Eilat and Aqaba, while trying to pretend that there is still doubt that the rockets were shot from Sinai.
A day after two rockets struck Eilat, the Egypt State Information
Service quoted the Egyptian army on Thursday as declaring that “Egyptian
territories were not and would never be a source of threat to
neighboring States.”
In the army statement, military spokesman
Col. Muhammad Ali added that a technical committee was looking into the
attack, which is believed to have come from the Sinai Peninsula.
Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that there was good cooperation between Jerusalem and Cairo, and that Israel would work to maintain it.
...
Maj.-Gen. Alaa Ezzedine, the head of Egypt’s Strategic Center of the
Armed Forces, denied Wednesday that the rockets had been fired from
Sinai, according to Ahram Online.
“Egypt owns the capabilities
required for knowing who fired the rockets and from which point; based
on our radar systems, we confirm that no rockets were launched from
inside Egyptian territory,” the website quoted him as saying.
He
also said that it was Israel’s responsibility to determine the source of
the rocket fire, and that the attack proved the Iron Dome anti-missile
system to be a “failure.”
However, his statement appeared to
conflict with a Ynet report that cited the IDF as saying Egypt had
delivered warnings ahead of the attack, leading Israel to place an Iron
Dome battery near Eilat.
Ezzedine told Ahram Online that the Egyptian army was planning to deal with the lack of security in the Sinai.
“The
plan includes intensifying the movements of military patrols in sites
which jihadists have taken advantage of in the past, along with
providing more weapons for the existing ambushes,” he said.
Here we go again: TwoThree grad rockets slam into Eilat
Two more grad rockets slammed into Eilat - once the safest place in Israel - on Wednesday morning, with one landing in the yard of a home and the other landing in an open area. No injuries or property damage were reported.
Two other rockets landed across the border in Aqaba, Jordan.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said bomb disposal crews located two
grad rockets at two different landing areas. "We've shut down the
airport for security reasons. We'll take additional precautions in the
event of more rocket sirens," he told The Jerusalem Post.
Channel
2 said one rocket fell in the yard of a home, and the second in an open
area. A number of residents reportedly suffered shock.
An
Eilat police spokesman told the 103 FM radio station, close to 9 a.m.
sirens were heard. A number of explosions were heard by residents following the sirens.
Two rockets also landed in the neighboring Jordanian resort city of Aqaba, Israel Radio reported.
The IDF deployed an Iron Dome battery outside the southern resort city at the beginning of the month.
The missile defense battery was stationed there in anticipation of possible rocket fire from the Egyptian Sinai peninsula.
These are coming from the Sinai - Gaza is too far away. Perhaps, President Obama's new best friend forever, Mohammed Morsy, needs to have a fire lit under his rear end so that he will do something about it.
Israel close to finalizing rail alternative to Suez Canal
As an alternative to the violence-plauged Suez Canal, Israel is on the verge of finalizing a rail route (Hat Tip: Ricky G).
Israel is close to finalising the route of a rail alternative to the Suez Canal as instability in Egypt has added to the urgency of a project to connect the Mediterranean with the Red Sea.
Last month 40 people were killed in protests in the three big Egyptian cities lining the canal, and some shipping groups had to suspend work for several days. President Morsi has warned of a “collapse of the State” if protests continue. Fees for using the canal are Egypt’s only reliable source of foreign currency, bringing in about $5 billion (£3.22 billion) of revenue a year.
Israeli officials have publicly denied suggestions that the plan threatens Egypt’s monopoly of one of the world’s most important trade routes. But privately they admitted that they were being asked to plan for the “day after” a closure of the canal.
“There are a number of scenarios that we need to prepare for, including the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt being challenged, or groups attempting to seize control of Suez in one of the ongoing protests there,” one senior Israeli official involved in the project said. “Israel, and the rest of the world, can’t sit around and wait for the day to come where we can’t transport goods between Asia and Europe. We have to create other channels.”
The project, funded by the Chinese Government, would include the construction of a port on the Red Sea coast near the Israeli city of Eilat, and a double-track railway line capable of carrying heavy cargo to the Israeli port of Ashdod on the Mediterranean coast.
Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, has declared it a “national priority” as it would transform Israel into a major player in global shipping. Building on the project, expected to take a decade, could begin this year.
Shipping companies said that Egypt’s military has maintained a strong presence around the canal to ensure that trade is not affected by the protests.
However, Gil Miller, managing director in Israel for the shipping group Maersk Line, said that while neither Maersk nor its big competitors wanted to find an alternative to Suez, recent events had forced them to consider “contingency plans”.
“The few days of disruptions ... were concerning, but manageable. We have, however, prepared other options for our company that can be activated in a short time and we are looking at the route being built in Israel,” Mr Miller said.
Israeli media have estimated that construction of the rail line alone would cost $2 billion, and the enlargement of the ports near Eilat and Ashdod could cost billions more.
An Israeli diplomat said that there was a great deal of interest in the project in China and India, as well as other countries in the region that he could not name due to “sensitivity”.
This week Israel’s Government heard final plans for the route through Israel, which environmentalists claim would cause irreparable damage and be a source of pollution. Israeli officials said that they would hear objections to the route before approving the plans.
Eran Feitelson, a transport expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, wrote in Haaretz newspaper: “For Egypt, the Suez Canal is an essential artery for economic survival; we are trying to create a threat to this artery.”
So is their problem environmental impact (we're talking about a rail line, not a highway!) or is their problem the financial impact on Egypt (in which case the answer is that we are not required to let Egypt maintain a stranglehold on us, and if we are able to make money while escaping it, all the better).
The remains of a Grad rocket were found on Friday evening, in a mountainous area north of the city of Eilat, the Israel Police said.
Police said they were working on the assumption that this was one of the two rockets fired from Sinai into Eilat on Wednesday, causing powerful blasts that rocked the Red Sea resort city.
Security forces searched the Eilat area on Wednesday night after two powerful blasts rocked the Red Sea resort city.
Eilat residents flooded the police's emergency number after hearing the explosions, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
Police ground units searched through various parts of the city, and suspect that rockets landed in open areas. No injuries or damages were reported following the explosions.
The IDF said searches were still underway, and did not definitively confirm that the blasts were caused by rockets.
Previously closed due to security reasons, Route 12 located along Israel's border with Egypt, will fully reopen for traffic. In recent months, the IDF has worked around the clock in order to open the road and maintain the safety of civilians in the region.
Route 12 was first closed after a terrorist squad executed an attack against Israeli civilians travelling on the road in August (2011). Eight Israelis were killed as a result of the attack and 40 additional ones injured.
In February, Route 12 was partially opened to traffic, but only during the day and only after intensive work had been done to improve security along sections of the road near the border of Egypt and Israel. Measures include accelerated construction of the new security barrier and a surge of observational and protective measures tailored to providing early warnings of any terrorist activity.
The decision to open the road to full traffic came as a result of the IDF’s non-stop work to secure the road for nighttime travel.
Southern Command chief Major General Tal Russo announced that starting this week, Route 12 between the Sayarim Junction and Netafim would be open without restrictions. Along the rest of the road vehicles will be prohibited to stop on the shoulder close to the border, as the area between the road and the border will be closed to traffic.
Here's a special report on how Eilatis are dealing with the influx of African illegals which is overwhelming their city.
Let's go to the videotape.
The city functionary who speaks in Hebrew says at the end that he is in favor of accepting refugees but not economic opportunity seekers, but the government has not distinguished between them and has set no criteria to distinguish between them.
A new front in the terror war: Terrorists fire rockets on Eilat from Sinai
Two Grad rockets slammed into Eilat around 1:00 am. No one was hurt. The rockets are believed to have come from Sinai, which is sovereign territory of Egypt, a country with which we supposedly have a 'peace treaty' (and which, of course, we cannot 'insult' by sending troops in to clean up the vipers nest that has formed there since the Hussein Obama administration decided to throw Hosni Mubarak to the dogs).
Police sappers discovered the remnants of a Grad rocket fired at Eilat late Wednesday night. Residents reported hearing explosions in the city.
Large IDF and police forces were sweeping the city, looking for additional rockets and were focusing on the southern neighborhood of Shahmon, where the explosions were heard loudest. Bomb disposal units were taking part in the searches.
No casualties were reported in the attack, but a number of citizens suffered from shock and were treated by Magen David Adom paramedics.
Eilat District Police commander Ron Gertner said the southern city has been on high alert due to the upcoming Passover holiday.
Asked if the rocket was fired from Sinai, Gertner said: "Based on our working assumptions and the (rocket) range, yes."
Gertner added that Eilat has been reinforced with additional security forces who arrived to assist police in handling the aftermath of the rocket fire incident.
Well, yes, this has happened before. But the last time, they were less accurate (two landed in Jordan and two in the Red Sea, and we still had Mubarak who could be relied upon - at least somewhat - to clean it up.
Reports of large explosions had security forces canvassing the city. The remnants of a grad rocket were eventually found on a residential construction site.
The defense establishment believes the fire emanated from Sinai. The police said that so far, no special security orders have been issued for residents and tourists.
One resident, Guy, said he heard three blasts and sirens blaring. Another resident reported hearing a loud blast shortly after midnight.
"The blast sounded like artillery fire because a second later we heard a distant explosion." Rafi reported hearing three major hits. "It didn't sound like firecrackers or anything else, it's a (rocket) hit, we heard a shrieking sound."
What should happen is that Israel should issue an ultimatum to the Egyptians: Either you clean up or we will send the IDF in to clean it up. But that would get in the way of Hussein Obama's reelection bid, wouldn't it?
Terrorist arrested before he could attack near Eilat
We almost had another terror attack near Eilat. Fortunately, the Shabak (General Security Service) stopped the terrorist.
Shabak released a statement that they arrested Mahammad Hasin Awad Abu-Aadra, a Rafah resident, at the end of February, while he was attempting to infiltrate Israel through the Gaza border.
Abu-Aadra is suspected of planning to abduct an Israeli soldier, as well as planning a suicide attack in Eilat. Abu-Aadra is the son of a well-known Rafah family of Hamas operatives.
During the investigation, Abu-Aadra admitted that he escaped from Gaza to the Sinai a year ago via a tunnel, due to criminal entanglement. After several months in the Egyptian peninsula, Abu-Aadra was approached by Yunes Shluf, a Rafah resident and Hamas operative. According to Abu-Aadra, Shluf is the commander of the organization’s artillery layout and responsible for the Hamas observation layout in the Sinai.
...
Near the end of 2011, Mahammad Abu-Aadra was asked to reach the Gaza Strip. Upon his arrival, he was taken along with Rushdi Abu-Aadra and Yunes Abu Shluf to a meeting with Ra’ed Atar, commander of Hamas’s military brigade in Rafah.
Mahammad Abu-Aadra agreed to carry out fire attacks towards military and civilian targets on the Sinai-Israel border, as well as fire rockets from Sinai towards Israel. Ra’ed Atar explained to Mahammad Abu-Aatra that the purpose of the attack would be the abduction of an Israeli soldier, and that another attack was planned.
In the additional attack, a squad of suicide bombers would be inserted into the city of Eilat in order to carry out a suicide attack.
Mahammad Abu-Aadra admitted during his interrogation that he agreed to set up the suicide squad in Eilat. He added that Yunes Shluf told him the training of the terrorists for the suicide attack squad had been completed, and that the infrastructure for their transport had been prepared in Sinai, but they were currently waiting for the right conditions to commence the attack.
An indictment have been presented to the Be’er Sheva regional court against Abu-Aadra, on charges including: contact with foreign agents, membership in an illegal organization, conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit abduction, intent to harm national security, and more.
The problem is that unless you bat 1.000 with this sort of thing, you lose. And we are losing. All over the country, people cannot live a normal life due to fear of terror attacks. It's time to put a stop to it once and for all.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
