A gunfight is going on in the early afternoon of Friday between terrorists, probably from the Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees, an al-Qaida affiliate, and the Egyptian army. The battle is taking place on the Egyptian side of the border near where terrorists killed 8 Israelis on Thursday.
At least two suicide bombers have targeted Egyptian soldiers in the area. No casualty figures are available. It is estimated that between seven to ten terrorists are involved. On Thursday, Israeli forces believe that they killed seven terrorists, though two of the bodies are on the Egyptian side of the border.
Official Israeli estimates now say 27 Israelis were wounded in the terror attack. The terrorists deployed four improvised explosive devices designed to kill civilians on Israeli territory. Two were captured intact by Israeli forces. So far, they are believed to be similar to those used in previous Palestinian attacks.
Israeli forces attacked Popular Resistance Committees targets in the Gaza Strip. Among the dead was one of the group’s leaders.
This group killed three U.S. government employees almost five years ago to the day. The men were security guards for State Department officials distributing scholarships to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The U.S. government at the time demanded that the Palestinian Authority, which then ruled the Gaza Strip, arrest and imprison those responsible. But while the Palestinian Authority promised to do so, no action was every taken and the men remained free. The U.S. government has taken no action regarding this terrorist attack or the PA’s refusal to help.
Complex conspiracy theories aren’t needed to explain the attack from Gaza through Egypt against Israel and its timing. Here’s an explanation involving two non-contradictory factors:
Option 1: This should be seen as the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) trying to make its own mark as being successful in killing Israelis, the basic standard by which Palestinian groups are judged by the public. Al-Qaida and its affiliates have been trying to hit Israel for a long time and never succeeded. They simply took advantage of the opportunities of anarchy in Sinai and the laxness or outright sympathy from Egypt to pull this off. They’ve been also building up their forces in the past couple of years. Either Hamas didn’t know about it or did and didn’t interfere because…
Option 2: Hamas wants to hit Israel and is looking for new ways to do it. Hamas doesn’t care about embarassing Egypt’s government and the PRC factor gave them plausible deniability, just as Hamas uses various smaller groups to launch rockets or attack Israel from the Gaza Strip and then disclaims responsibility. They want to develop this kind of operation for themselves in the future and know they can depend on the Muslim Brotherhood for help so this is a rehearsal for them. Also, in the longer run, Hamas is thinking of provocations that might drag Egypt into war with Israel.
Also keep in mind that there are two different sets of terrorists: Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip attacking Israel; Egyptian groups in northern Sinai attacking the Egyptian government. Two battalions of Egyptian troops had earlier been sent into Sinai to deal with the latter threat.
We should be aware of two historical precedents:
–In the early 1950s, and especially in 1954-1955, Egyptian intelligence coordinated cross-border fedayeen operations against Israel, often using old Muslim Brotherhood networks in Gaza. In 1955, Israel did a retaliation operation which accidentally ended up by killing Egyptian soldiers whose trucks drove into an Israeli ambush. Egypt turned to the USSR for arms and this led to the Sinai campaign of 1956. After that, the Egyptians generally tried to prevent cross-border attacks by Palestinians in order to control the situation and avoid war with Israel.
I usually appreciate the perspective and insights, Mr. Rubin… but I find it bizarre that in writing about a terror attack today against the Egyptians, where Egyptians are surprisingly firing on the terrorists tehmselves, by the second paragraph you immediately revert to talking only about how the Jews are threatened… How about some analysis on why Islamic terrorists would attack Egypt – how about some analysis about why Egypt would be fighting them?
About a week ago a story began floating about how the Egyptian army was “hunting” terrorists in Sinai – was this related to the impending attack which unfolded yesterday? Who are the factions in Egypt ?
If the story of global Islamic Jihad is only depicted or primarily shown through the prism of Jewish victimhood or the threats Islamic Jihad poses to the Israel, then a grave mistake is being made. For more than four decades the growing cancer of Islamic Jihad has been largely reduced to a squabble between two desert tribes fighting a turf battle. Of course now we are learning that Islamic Jihad is a cancer which threatens the world. Without minimizing the mortal threat to Israel, given the proliferation of Jihad, and with tens of thousands of attacks globally since 9/11, it’s not even accurate any longer to suggest that Israel is the sole front, or even the main front of Islamic Jihad. And in the interim since 9/11, tens of thousands of Christians, Hindus, and others have died heinous deaths at the hands of Muslim mass murderers across Africa, the ME, and Asia. I should think it would be in the best interest of Jews and all victims of Islamic Jihad to discuss its obscenity in broader terms so that the world understands the threat which Islam wherever it raises its bloody flag…
Your knowledge on this subject is far greater than mine.
My emotional take is that the world is trying to be to nice to the Muslim extremists. The reason that “peace” has been in this area for 40 years is for two reasons: $, and the fear of loosing a war.
Those two things no longer exist. Not enough $ to go around, and the rules of engagement have softened to the point of: a handshake is needed before you can shoot the enemy.
Take the gloves off, squash the Muslim extremists.
Or do they serve another purpose other than a religious movement?
“A religious movement”—huh? So, in it’s adherents, Islam is not merely making use of fabrications of ostensible appearances, but is bona fide “a religious movement”? That strikes me as a little bit shallow—just when will there have been sufficient record of dedicated and persistent anti-social and criminal activity—the world round—to have the G0D d_ed thing broadly recognized in law as criminal / terrorist—assets seized, WIRETAPS, etc., the damnable thing stamped out, with every mosque an ash pit no less than five feet deep, and this to include that big one in Spain, . . . you know, do our part to make the world safe for women and children, . . . but when?
Getting the UN out of the US and the US out of the UN might be a good place to start!
the only US Executive who had a proper response to the moslem terrorist game plan was Thomas Jefferson when, in the early nineteenth century, despatched our navy to the Mediterranean off the Barbary Coast of North Africa and cleaned up the “barbary pirates” which had been harrying American merchant traffic in the area, seizing ships and men, stealing their cargoes, etc. He got a copy of their “holy” book to study up how they think, and derived, correctly, an appropriate response: clean them out, utterly, destroy them to the point of surrender. During the “peace treaty” negotiations, they had the cheek to ask for some form of dhimmitued.. the paying of tribute… by America. To which Jefferson responded “no way. Ever”. The Treaty of Tripoli is notably one-sided.. in OUR favor. Jefferson rightly understood the ONLY way to meet these people is with force… utterly superior force leaving two options… surrender or annhilation. Moslems understand these options, and not much else.
When we take off the gloves and put on the brass knuckles and get SERIOUS about reducing them to submission, we will then be safe, as their threat will be neutralised. For now. Its barely been two hundred years since Jefferson’s action against them. My how they (and we, for that matter) have forgotten. Ah, but their collective memory is far longer than that. Remember the fall of Vienna’s occupation force some four hundered years ago, the FIRST September eleventh……
Even if the numbers killed in other conflicts along Islam’s “bloody borders” exceed those involving Israel, it’s not for lack of trying. Israel is just better at resisting. In addition, most of those other conflicts are either in-country “family” disputes (e.g. Somalia, Afghanistan, Libya, arguably Iraq), or involve conflicts with other non-Western but non-Muslim entities (India, Thailand, Philippines). Conflict with India is the most serious of these as, like Pakistan, it’s a nuclear power.
You are correct that the confrontation with Islamic jihad is far broader than the confrontation with Israel and their war against the Jews. But Islamic irredentism and Arab supremacism working together have themselves made Israel *the* front-line in their conflict with the West. If, God forbid, Israel were to fall, a now triumphalist Islam would shift its focus to Europe and other lands where Muslims reside in large numbers. What Iran describes as “a world without Israel” wouldn’t be more peaceful but rather more riven with conflict and terrorism. *That* is why Israel should matter, even to non-Jews.
“If, God forbid, Israel were to fall, a now triumphalist Islam would shift its focus to Europe and other lands where Muslims reside in large numbers.”
If Israel were to fall, the world of Islam would be converted to radioactive glass. Mecca would be a huge crater. The Middle Eastern oil installations would be destroyed; the world economy would collapse, and hundreds of millions would starve to death.
And that’s a best case scenario.
please note that I have written other stories about terrorists focussing on Egypt, including one a few days ago. This terrorist group–of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip were attacking Israel and fired at Egyptians in an attempt to escape. Egyptian Islamist groups are trying to overthrow the Egyptian government, a story I covered regarding El-Arish. I wrote the story this way because that accorded with the specific situation involved.
How are you going to spin the fearful, always apologizing,always retreating coward Barak as Isralei Defense Minister ?
Muslims can smell weakness and fear from Israel.
The eyewitness accounts of some Egyptian soldiers doing the shooting in the terrorist attack near Elait was quickly ‘disappeared’ by the Israeli government media too fearful and cowardly to get aggressive with the military junta in Cairo.
Smelling the cowardly retreat expert Ehud Barak in retreat,the Egyptians decided to take the offensive and boy did they ever. Ehud the crawler and his sidekick the orator were told by their pimp in Washington to crawl and beg and apologize to the terrorists enablers.
Egypt was culpable if not completely responsible for this attack against Israel and yet Israel is the one required to apologize so says her phony ally the U.S.
Israel should be the angry one and demanding more than an apology.
This is a serious escalation and shows how easily Israel has been reduced to dhimmi,beggar status across the world.
All the death worshipers of Islam have to do is threaten and the fearful, panic striken dhimmi’s in Jerusalem wet their pants,apologize,retreat, run to Washington crying for daddy to save them.
I wonder when the Israeli street is going to wake up and dump the cowards who couldn’t stand up to a flea and only talk tough to deceive them ?
The enemy and Israel’s pseudo friends know they can push Israel around at will and that the quislings Netanyahu and Barak wil fold like a cheap suit.
Do not bother the Israeli street with such boring things. They are busy now, building tents, demonstrating and generally having a good time dancing under Euro ordered music.
The young demonstrators in Cairo did not care about Israel one way or the other. Their grievances were remarkably domestic. Whoever gets the power in Egypt will probably still use accusations of Israeli malfeasance to cover their failures. So what is Israel to do? Just continue to project strength, still the best way to deter belligerence.
Egypt is *already* attempting to blame Israel to cover their own failures. Instead of acknowledging that Egyptian soldiers were killed in confrontation with surviving terrorists escaping Israeli territory, they’re claiming that *Israel* killed those soldiers, even if inadvertently, in the crossfire. Not surprisingly, that “news” stirred up the crowds in Cairo who are once again protesting in front of Israel’s embassy.
I find it interesting that all eyewitness accounts of Egyptian soldiers firing on Israeli citizens have been scrubbed from the media on day 2.
The fearful Israeli government is more interested in fantasy than reality.
Things are much worse as Jews are once against restrained and told to board the rail cars to the camps without resistance.
This is why after dozens of missiles fired from Gaza into Israels cities today the prime Minister and the Defense Minister talk empty words and do very little else.
The quisling Netanyahu has been informed not to disturb his Plantation Masta while he is on vacation at Martha’s Vineyard.
D.M. Ehud Barak’s idea of harsh retaliation is cutting off ice cream deliveries to Gaza for 1 day.
These 2 poodles have learned to obey their master on command quite well.
Here are my two cents. I do believe the Egyptian army is trying to have both ways, on the one hand is trying to pacify the brotherhood by opening Rafah Border crossing, on the other is trying to control Hamas and its affiliates and on the same time hoping to keep peace with Israel and maintain friendly relations with Iran. Good luck.
Essentially The Egyptian army is mimicking failed Turkey’s foreign policy, and look what Erdogan got in return. Assad who thumbed his nose to Turkey’s FM, and Iran who basically told Erdogan mind your own business and get off Assad’s back. The differences between Turkey and Egypt is that The Turks are not Arabs and to some degree they are self sufficient and much more industrialized. In case of Egypt she is dependent on foreign aid from U.S and the gulf states. Sooner or latter Egypt Military has to decide either to follow Sedat/Mubarak or Nasser. My take is even if they try to follow Sedat/Mubarak they will not be allowed by forces beyond their control. And that will trigger region wide war.
Well, to me at least, this could mean one of two things. It could mean that the Egyptian Army is losing control of the area and that the radical elements on the Egyptian side of the border are starting the flex their muscles. Or it could also mean that the radical Islamic Muslim Brotherhood is beginning to take over and they want the Army to know it, as a warning, and get out of the way. Either way it’s not good news, because if the Army is losing its grip on power it’s only going to cause a disaster when the Muslim Brotherhood does take over in the fall. This is not good and somebody at either the Pentagon or the CIA should look into it.
Barak “Barry has three daddies” Obama should be invested as President for Life and co-rule with right-hand person Hitlery Cunton – this is only fair after centuries of anti-black anti-woman white man rule. We don’t need any 2012 election let’s all come together and Choose Life crowning Pharaoh Hussein Lord of the Potomac – for Life.
‘Pharaoh Hussein Lord of the Potomac – for Life.’
another one bites the dust -
Did you hear what Russia’s Putin called the America of the professional staple gun President today ?
If you didn’t, he called the sickly old lady in the basement printing her worthless currency ‘a parasite.’
Life is short ,it’s always wise for Nations led by arrogant fools to prepare for the next world ,cause another empire is about to bite the dust ‘forever.’
What better man to have as Captain of the Titanic as this stage ?
let the kenyan captain NOT go down with the ship… have him overside and let the ship sail on without him. She’ll find her way to somewhere safer than that iceberg for which he’s set her course.
Why the constant phrase “killing Israelis”? When someone wantonly kills an innocent civilian, the correct term is “murder”.
Words matter. Those civilians were murdered in cold blood. Tell it like it is.
“Herman Cain has moved ahead of Mitt Romney. Can you believe that? Political analysts say this is because Americans don’t understand Mormonism but they do understand pizza.” –Conan O’Brien
http://www.insidegamingdaily.com/2011/10/14/xbox-live-accounts-hacked-in-the-name-of-fifa-love