Within the past hour, two rockets have been fired on Israel from an area of the Sinai desert controlled by the Islamic State terror group. Both rockets fell in open areas.
The rockets landed in the Eshkol Regional Council, according to
an initial statement released by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. No
injuries or damages were caused.
A Red Alert was not sounded, the statement said, due to the fact that the rockets were fired into open space.
Russian plane brought down by 'external force' in Sinai
Russia is saying that a Kogalymavia Airlines passenger jet that crashed in Sinai on Saturday while enroute from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg was brought down by an 'external force.' ISIS has claimed that it shot the plane down presumably as revenge for Russian military activity in Syria. All 224 passengers and crew on the plane were killed.
"We exclude technical problems and reject
human error," Alexander Smirnov, a Kogalymavia airline official, said at
a Moscow news conference as he discussed possible causes of the crash.
He
added that the crew did not issue any warnings or communications during
the final moments, indicating that the flight crew must have been
disabled and not able to radio out.
However,
Smirnov said that while the plane's flight and voice data recorders had
been recovered, they had not been read or decoded.
But no one else wants to believe that ISIS is responsible. No one, that is, except Lufthansa, Air France, Emirates, Air Arabia and Air Dubai, all of which have announced that they will not be flying over Sinai until further notice. This is from the first link.
Officials have played down an apparent
claim by Islamic militants in Sinai that they brought down the Airbus
A321-200, saying technical failure is the most likely reason for the
crash.
But so far, they haven't been
able to give a definitive explanation for what happened, with the
Egyptian President suggesting investigations could take months.
This is not the first flight out of Sharm to crash since Israel returned the resort to Egypt as part of the Camp David treaty. In 2004, a Flash Airlines charter flight from Sharm to Paris crashed into the Red Sea shortly after takeoff. A former work colleague of mine who had subsequently moved to France was aboard that flight.
You might recall that in 2006, El Al announced that all of its planes are equipped with the Flight Guard anti-missile system. In 2008, American Airlines decided that the system was too expensive for its planes. Given that this is the second time in the last 16 months that a commercial passenger jet has been shot down, perhaps the airlines ought to consider installing the Flight Guard system.
Where are the UN 'peacekeepers' when you need them? Hiding out as usual. A rocket from the Sinai was fired into Israel after the Sabbath started.
Militants in
Egypt's Sinai peninsula fired a rocket into southern Israel on Friday in
an incident that appeared linked to fighting between Islamist
insurgents and Egyptian security forces, an Israeli military source
said.
"Yes, the rocket was
fired from Sinai," the source said, confirming an Israeli Army Radio
report that the missile was launched from the desert region bordering
Israel and Gaza.
Israeli police said they had found rocket remnants in an open area. No damage or casualties resulted.
It was possible the launch was linked to the fighting in Sinai, the military source said.
Or maybe it wasn't an accident. And maybe we have another source of rocket fire into Israel. What could go wrong?
Yet to think of ISIS and Hamas as being in a state of war may be to
overestimate their hostility and underrate their grasp of political
reality. Hamas doesn’t so much fear ISIS as it does worry about a wild
card group making decisions for them about war with Israel at a moment
when they might prefer to continue the truce with the Jewish state.
Similarly, ISIS has enough on its plate fighting in Syria and Iraq
against forces that would like to see it destroyed without opening up a
new front in Gaza at a moment when its strength there is minuscule
compared to the enormous military that Hamas can deploy against Israel.
But despite animosity and distrust, it is more than obvious that both
Hamas and ISIS share a common enemy in Egypt. The Sisi government in
Cairo is dedicated to the eradication of the Muslim Brotherhood and
regards Hamas, which was founded by Brotherhood supporters and whose
help to the group during the unrest in Egypt was included in the charges
against former President Mohammed Morsi, as a hostile entity. Egypt is
even more determined to isolate Gaza than Israel. In that sense, the
Hamas-ISIS connection is a natural alliance.
That’s why Hamas has a vested interest in creating more chaos in
Sinai than exists along its border with Israel. No matter what their
opinion of each other might be, Hamas understands that the Egyptian
government is a far more dangerous threat to its continued survival than
is Israel. Under the circumstances it doesn’t take much of a leap of
imagination to believe that Israel’s intelligence about
Hamas’s involvement in ISIS activities in Sinai has the ring of truth.
This realization ought to do more than cause concern in both Cairo
and Jerusalem. The Sinai had already been transformed into something of a
Wild West for terror in the years since a bloody Hamas coup allowed the
group to seize control of the independent Palestinian state (in all but
name) that currently exists in Gaza. But with ISIS moving into the void
of security that the Sinai has become, a low level conflict with
terrorists may be about to turn into something far more serious.
More to the point, this tacit alliance between otherwise rival
Islamist terror groups ought to cause some foreign policy experts
who have regarded Western acquiescence toward Hamas’s continued grip on
Gaza as a given to rethink that assumption. If Gaza is no longer merely a
launching pad for rockets and tunnels aimed at terrorizing Israelis but
is also a base for terror aimed at toppling moderate Arab governments,
continued tolerance of its sovereignty in Gaza is not only morally
wrong; it is a suicidal proposition for the West.
Just as the Israelis have refrained from toppling Hamas in Gaza lest
they be stuck governing the dysfunctional strip, so too do Western
nations have a distaste for regime change in the strip. But perhaps it
is time that those who were so quick to criticize Israel for launching a
counter-attack against Gaza-based terrorism last summer realize that
the perpetuation of Hamas rule there is a threat to more than the Jewish
state. So long as an Islamist terror group has a secure base next to
both Egypt and Israel and is getting aid from Iran, it is reasonable to
assume that it will be undermining the security of both of those states
as well as the rest of the region.
While I cannot prove it empirically, there are many scholars who believe that had Adolph Hitler and the Nazis (may their name and memory be obliterated) not been so obsessed with murdering Jews, the outcome of World War II might have been different and we might all be speaking German now. Will the West (particularly Europe and the Democratic party in the US) allow its all-consuming hatred of Israel and/or Jews to overlook the storm that is brewing in Gaza?
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?
I received the following via email, unsourced. It's spot-on.
"Israel TV have been showing the massive destruction of hundreds of
homes by the Egyptians as they create a 500 meter buffer zone with Gaza
on their side of the ...border.
1165 families have been removed as their homes are destroyed.
Isn't
it strange that this is a yawn for the Western media. Not worth a
mention. No angry street demonstrations. No condemnation by UN human
rights organizations. No criticism by the Obama Administration. Nothing.
There's no Jewish state to blame and accuse of terrible crimes.
It
has to be said that the Egyptians were uncovering Hamas tunnels as they
cleared the area, which was part of the reason for the operation.
Egypt and Israel have a common cause in eliminating this joint Islamic threat, albeit Palestinian."
Here's a comment from Jeff Jacoby on Twitter.
To wipe out "terrorist hotbeds" in Gaza, army demolishes homes, expelling thousands of civilians. The EGYPTIAN army. http://t.co/3MqWIebNql
— Jeff Jacoby (@Jeff_Jacoby) October 30, 2014
What a double standard the 'international community' has adopted. What difference does it make?
Egyptian President Abdel Fateh al-Sisi has finally had it with Hamas attacks on his territory. So he's doing what all good neighbors do: He's building a fence.
In the wake of Friday’s attack in northern Sinai, which killed 33
Egyptian soldiers, Cairo has raised the idea of a building an eight-mile
barrier along its border with Gaza to deter Islamist terrorists from
moving in and out of the Palestinian territory.
“There is a big conspiracy against us,” Egyptian President Abdel
Fatah al-Sisi said in a live, televised address Saturday, in which he
blamed “foreign powers” for the atrocity and said Egypt is locked in an
“existential war”.
Egypt, which has declared a three-month state of emergency in
northern Sinai, also cancelled its planned role as mediator between
Israel and Hamas in talks aimed at maintaining a ceasefire that has held
since the end of the summer conflict.
Friday’s sophisticated terrorist attack - which Egyptian authorities
have indicated likely came from Gaza - was launched on Egyptian troops
with devastating effect. Old tunnels that had yet to be destroyed by
Egyptian forces or newly-dug tunnels that had not been detected were
likely used in the attack that combined the use of a suicide bomber on
one hand, with rocket propelled grenades and roadside bombs on the
other.
Egypt has also closed its borders with Gaza. Will anyone care about this 'blockade'? Will countries like Norway and Turkey send ferries to run Egypt's 'blockade' and deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza?
Following Friday’s attack, the Rafah crossing between southern Gaza
and Egypt was closed immediately and will reportedly remain closed
indefinitely. Hamas leaders have reportedly stated that Gaza will
“explode” if the Rafah crossing is not re-opened quickly.
While the southern crossing into Egypt is closed, other border
crossings with Israel remain open. Humanitarian and trade supplies are
being delivered by Israel to the more than 1.8 million residents of Gaza
whose Hamas government fought a 50-day war against them this summer.
The war cost the lives of a reported 2,000 Gazans, according to Hamas
government figures, and 70 Israelis. Recent independent analysis of the
Gazan dead suggests that as many as half were terrorist combatants.
By the way, that article is Fox News - not Arutz Sheva.
Egyptian military sources revealed details on the plan to the Palestinian Arab Ma'an News Agency on
Tuesday, divulging that all homes and farmland up to a depth of 500
meters (over 1,640 feet) into Gaza from the Sinai border will be seized
and evacuated, other than Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid.
The expulsion will take place to that depth all along the 13 kilometer (over eight mile) border. Additionally, a channel with a depth and width of 20 meters (over 65 feet) will be dug along the Gaza border.
The military source added that residents faced with evacuation are
being offered compensation for abandoning their homes, and around 200
families have already accepted the financial package to vacate.
There are still 680 more families in the area faced with impending expulsion.
Egypt's buffer zone plans are expected to be completed by the end of the year....
Here's betting that the United Nations, the US State Department and the European Union will all have nothing to say about this. After all, what difference does it make?
Abu Bluff and Egypt's foreign ministry both deny Sinai land offer
It took several hours, but both 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen and Egypt's foreign ministry are denying a story I reported earlier today that has Egypt offering Abu Mazen 1,600 square kilometers of the Sinai for a 'Palestinian state' and Abu Mazen turning down that offer. This is from the next-to-law link.
Israeli statesmen responded favorably to reports of an Egyptian-led
proposal aimed at establishing a Palestinian state in the Sinai
Peninsula in order to resolve the issue of refugees.
Earlier in the day, Egypt's Foreign Ministry denied reports of the
initiative, which claimed President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi presented
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with the proposal. The ministry
added that the proposal was actually made in the past by ousted
President Mohammed Morsi.
Al-Tayyib Abd Al-Rahim, Secretary-General of Abbas's office, told the Palestinian Arab Ma'an News Agency that the reports were "fabricated."
Al-Rahim added that Abbas would not accept any alternative to a
"Palestinian state" on the 1949 Armistice lines with eastern Jerusalem
as its capital.
"This news is completely false and the proposal is an old one
suggested by former head of the Israeli National Security Council Giora
Eiland, who suggested to establish a Palestinian state in Gaza and parts
of Sinai with autonomy in the West Bank," al-Rahim said.
Abbas's representative further claimed that Egypt shares the PA's
position calling for a "two state solution" based on the 1949 Armistice
lines.
My guess is that Sisi made the offer, Abu Bluff said no, and that the Egyptian foreign ministry is afraid that disclosing the fact that the offer was made will lead to rioting in the streets, and possibly to Egypt being expelled from the Arab League as happened after Camp David. Egypt is extremely anti-Semitic.
Egypt intercepts Grad rockets being smuggled from Gaza to Sinai
Oh my....
Egypt intercepts 3 Grad rockets smuggled out of Gaza into Sinai to be fired at Israel. http://t.co/4p5Xk4G0Jb
— Jonathan Schanzer (@JSchanzer) August 12, 2014
Remember all those years when we couldn't get Egypt to do anything to stop the weapons smuggling?
American peacekeeper shot in Sinai; Egypt kills three more terrorists
An American peacekeeper with the Sinai multinational observer force was shot and wounded on Monday by 'gunmen' (terrorists) (Hat Tip: David R).
A US soldier with the Multinational Force and Observers
mission (MFO) in Egypt's Sinai was wounded when gunmen shot at his camp
late Monday, a security official said.
The restive Sinai Peninsula has witnessed a surge in militant attacks
since the army ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.
The security official said that the soldier was wounded in the arm
and treated by medics inside the MFO camp, near the northern Sinai
village of El-Joura.
Military spokesperson Mohamed Samir said three terrorists were killed
in an exchange of fire and six fugitives were arrested on Monday
evening.
He also said that an SUV and 16 motorcycles without license plates allegedly used by terrorist elements were destroyed.
Meanwhile, another military source
said army operations continue in Sinai to combat terrorist elements and
planes hover over different areas to scan their hiding places.
The source added that the armed forces would complete the destruction of all tunnels soon to prevent infiltration and smuggling.
But the Obama administration would rather have the Muslim Brotherhood in charge....
The Egyptian army announced on Monday that its military had destroyed
three tunnels on the border with the Gaza Strip, killing eleven fighters
in the process.
"Army troops raided terrorists' hideouts in
Northern Sinai, killing 11 terrorists in the ensuing clashes," spokesman
Mohamed Samir wrote on his official Facebook page.
He said the army destroyed three vehicles and eight motorbikes used by the militants.
"Three tunnels on the border with the Gaza Strip have also been destroyed," added the army spokesman.
The
army has launched a major offensive against militant groups said to be
based in the Sinai Peninsula, which shares borders with both Israel and
the Gaza Strip.
Yes, of course the terrorists are from Hamas. What else could they be?
Israel may have finished with Hamas for now, but Egypt is ready to take them on.
Liberal media refuses to report Egypt's frustration with Hamas attacks
on their border with Gaza. Keep in mind that Obama claimed Egypt's
muslim brotherhood as a legitimate ruling political party.
Reader, please understand this is much bigger news than will
likely be reported elsewhere. Remember, Egypt was until recently, a
pro-Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood regime, having come to that disturbing
result with aid from the Obama administration. The Obama White House
continues to indicate “concern” over how Egyptian military officials
kicked out the extremist Muslim Brotherhood – the very organization
Valerie Jarrett has strong ties to in Washington D.C. With Egypt now
indicating it is prepared to open fire on both Hamas and ISIS should
they threaten its borders, the North African nation is also positioning
itself opposite the Middle East goals of the Obama regime as well.
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.
Like I said, today is travel day. Leaving for the airport in a couple of hours.
A tour bus carrying a group of South Koreans was attacked near St. Catherine's monastery (near Mount Sinai) on Sunday. Three South Koreans and the Egyptian driver have been killed, and 15 wounded tourists have been transferred some 200 miles to Eilat (Israel) for competent medical care
Let's go to the videotape.
The ministry said the bus was traveling from St. Catherine's Monastery, a
popular tourist destination in the south Sinai, to nearby Israel when
it was attacked.
Look at a map, dude. South Sinai is nowhere near Israel.
It did not state the cause of the blast. But two security sources
said an explosive device planted either inside or near the bus was used.
Magen
David Adom was waiting to receive as many as 15 wounded tourists from
the Egyptian side of the border and evacuate them to Eilat.\
The
Prime Minister's Office confirmed that five people who were seriously
wounded in the blast were transferred to Joseftal Hospital in Eilat for
intensive care treatment.
...
State television showed a photograph of the bus. Its windows were blown
out and the roof had been partially torn off. Plumes of black smoke
billowed from the site of the explosion on a palm tree-lined boulevard.
I don't understand why anyone would want to visit that country.
Video: Jihadis from Ansar Beit al-Maqdis down Egyptian helicopter
In the wee hours of Sunday morning, I reported that Sinai jihadis had obtained surface-to-air missiles. The basis for that report was a report on a downed Egyptian army helicopter in which five Egyptian troops were killed. The Egyptian army claimed it was a result of a technical malfunction, while the jihadi group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis claimed that their men had downed the helicopter by firing a missile. Now, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis has released video proving their claim.
The clip features an audio track of a Koranic verse titled "The hand of
God is what struck." A voiceover belonging to "Abu Osama al-Masri" is
then heard warning the Cairo regime of a similar fate that befell Syria,
Libya, and deposed president Hosni Mubarak.
"Did the United States help [Mubarak]?" the speaker asks sarcastically.
"If you do not cease collaborating with the fighters of Muslims, we will
stand against you and all of your planes won't help because we are the
soldiers of God," the speaker says in the video.
That sure doesn't look like a simulation, nor does it look like a technical malfunction. Hmmm.
Okay, it's only been reported on Twitter, but it sounds likely to be true. Sinai jihadis have deployed surface-to-air missiles for the first time. I'm going to post a series of tweets by Michael Hanna below. Michael is a senior fellow at the Century Foundation in New York City.
Big news MT @RenaNetjes: Fmr general Saif AlYazl to CBC: Russian stinger 2 rocket has been fired on military plane in Sinai, for first time
— Michael Hanna (@mwhanna1) January 25, 2014
It'll be overshadowed by the other major news in Egypt, but successful deployment by Sinai jihadis of surface to air missiles is a big deal.
— Michael Hanna (@mwhanna1) January 25, 2014
.@omar_dawoud@RenaNetjes I assume he just means Russian version of shoulder-held SAMs and was using Stinger as shorthand.
— Michael Hanna (@mwhanna1) January 25, 2014
At least 25 Egyptian soldiers/policemen killed in Rafah ambush
At least 25 Egyptian soldiers or policemen (the reportsvary) have been killed in an ambush in Rafah, along the border between Egypt and Gaza. This is from the 'Palestinian' Maan News.
At least 25 Egyptian soldiers were killed by militants in an ambush on two buses in north Sinai on Monday.
The
soldiers were reportedly executed by militants after being ordered to
leave the buses. The armed gunmen forced the soldiers to lie on the
ground before shooting them, security officials told Ma'an.
Three other Egyptian servicemen were injured in the attack.
Military helicopters are transferring the bodies of the dead soldiers to Cairo.
The soldiers were part of a central security unit deployed along the Israel-Egypt border and around Rafah, officials added.
In Monday's incident, security sources said four armed men had stopped
the police buses and forced the passengers to get out before shooting
them.
Forgive me, but you have two buses full of soldiers or policemen, who are presumably armed, they get stopped by four armed men, and they end up getting executed gangland style? Something is missing here.
It starts: Movement behind Morsi ouster calls on army to renounce Camp David, refuse US money
Last week, President Obama canceled a military exercise with Egypt in response to the crackdown on his friends in the Muslim Brotherhood. Obama complained that the exercise could not go on as 'business as usual.'
In response, the Tamarod movement, which was behind the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood and Mohammed Morsy, has called on the Egyptian army to renounce the Camp David treaty and refuse all further US aid.
Tamarod, who played a major role in the ousting of Egyptian President
Mohamed Morsi, demand the Egyptian regime to hold a referendum on
banning US aid, cancel the peace agreement with Israel, and reword
security-related treaties to allow Egypt to revive its national
sovereignty.
The movement claims that Israeli and international
peacekeeping forces in Sinai prevent the Egyptian military from sending
more forces to the peninsula to stop terrorist activity in the area.
Daily
News Egypt quotes the movement's media coordinator Mai Wahba as saying
the campaign will collect signatures from people, and that there was no
timetable for the campaign yet.
The "No to US aid" campaign has already gathered 300,000 signatures.
Ironically, most Israelis would like to see the Muslim Brotherhood crushed.
Israel
has opted to stay silent on the turmoil in Egypt to avoid disrupting
strategic security cooperation with the Egyptian military.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had aides instruct cabinet
ministers to avoid public comment about Egypt, according to an official
who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Israel and the United States
see the situation in Egypt very, very differently and justifiably the
prime minister wouldn't want Israeli cabinet ministers to publicly
criticize American policy," Giora Eiland, a former national security
adviser, said on Channel 2.
In private, one senior Israeli
official expressed alarm at US President Barack Obama's condemnation of
the bloodshed in Egypt and cancellation of a joint military exercise
with Cairo.
"Eyebrows have been raised," the official said.
Many Israeli officials believe that Egyptian Army chief Abdel Fatteh al-Sisi has no choice but to crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood.
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.
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
