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  • Tension rises between Israel & Egypt

    Armed men cross Egyptian border, kill 8 Israelis
    By DANIELLA CHESLOW, Associated Press – 2 days ago
    EILAT, Israel (AP) — Gunmen who crossed from the Egyptian desert launched a series of attacks in southern Israel, killing eight people and threatening to destabilize a volatile border region that includes the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and Egypt's increasingly lawless Sinai Peninsula.
    Israel blamed an armed Palestinian group from neighboring Gaza. Israeli forces killed five of the gunmen Thursday along the border with Egypt, and later launched 12 airstrikes inside Gaza, the military said. One killed five militants from the gunmen's group, including three involved in planning the attack, the military said. Gaza medical officials said a toddler and a 13-year-old boy were also killed in the Israeli air attacks.
    Gunfire continued on both sides of the border late into the evening. After nightfall, Israel's "Iron Dome" anti-missile system intercepted a rocket fired by Gaza militants at the city of Ashkelon, the military said. Early Friday, a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza struck southern Israel, the military said. There was no immediate word on casualties.
    Thursday's attacks were the deadliest against Israelis since a gunman killed eight civilians in Jerusalem in 2008. They suggested that Egypt's recent political upheaval and a resulting power vacuum in Sinai allowed Gaza militants, who had been pummeled by a punishing Israeli three-week war 2 1/2 years ago, to open a new front against Israel on its long-quiet frontier with Egypt.
    The military's chief spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, said there had been intelligence reports of a possible attack and military deployments in the area had been beefed up. But soldiers were operating in complex desert terrain, and the boundary is porous because Israel has not completed building a fence along the frontier, which includes a 125-mile (200-kilometer) stretch between Gaza and Eilat, complicating their mission, Mordechai told Israel Radio.
    Security forces were on high alert across Israel. In Jerusalem, ahead of the third Friday prayers of the holy Muslim Ramadan fasting month, access to the disputed hilltop compound known as Temple Mount or Noble Sanctuary was restricted to Palestinian men over 50 and women over 45 carrying Israeli identity cards, Israel Radio said. The age limits were meant to winnow out potential troublemakers or attackers.
    The attack began shortly after noon in southern Israel with gunfire at a civilian bus heading toward the Red Sea resort city of Eilat, currently at the height of the tourist season.
    A number of passengers were hit, the military said. The gunmen had crossed the border and set up an ambush along a 300-yard (meter) strip, armed with automatic weapons, grenades and suicide bomb belts, according to the military.
    "We heard a shot and saw a window explode. I didn't really understand what was happening at first," passenger Idan Kaner told Israel's Channel 2 TV. "After another shot, there was chaos in the bus and everyone jumped on everyone else."
    Within an hour, gunmen had riddled another passing bus and two cars with bullets and rigged a roadside bomb that detonated under an army jeep rushing to the scene. At the same time, mortar gunners in Gaza opened fire at soldiers along the Gaza-Israel border fence.
    TV video showed the first bus with its windows shattered. Its seats were stained with blood and luggage littered the aisle.
    The Israeli dead included six civilians and one soldier, according to the Israeli military's southern commander, Maj. Gen. Tal Russo.
    Israeli soldiers eventually killed five attackers, the military said, and defense officials said three of the bodies were wired with explosives. It was not clear how many militants were involved.
    Egyptian security and Interior Ministry officials said a gunfight erupted on the border, and three Egyptians were killed, one police officer and two soldiers. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters, said the gunfire erupted while Israelis were chasing militants trying to re-enter Sinai. It was not clear if the gunfire at the Egyptians came from Israeli troops or militants. The Israeli military had no comment.
    According to the Israeli military, during the fighting along the border the gunmen tried and failed to shoot down an Israeli helicopter with an anti-tank missile.
    Roadblocks were erected in the area, sealing roads in and out of Eilat, and senior Israeli security officials convened an emergency session at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv.
    Hours later, militants who had apparently gone undetected attacked again, and a member of an elite police counter-terrorism unit was killed, the eighth Israeli fatality, according to Chief Inspector Alex Kagalsky, a spokesman for the Israel police.
    Israel said the attackers had come from Gaza and made their way into neighboring Sinai and from there into Israel.
    "Today we all witnessed an attempt to step up terror by attacking from Sinai. If anyone thinks Israel will live with that, he is mistaken," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Thursday. "If the terror organizations think they can strike at our civilians without a response, they will find that Israel will exact a price — a very heavy price."
    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned what she called "premeditated acts of terrorism against innocent civilians," and said the U.S. and Israel were "united in the fight against terror."
    Clinton added that the violence "only underscores our strong concerns about the security situation in the Sinai Peninsula," and urged the Egyptian government to find "a lasting solution."
    The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv issued an "emergency message" urging U.S. citizens to avoid the area of the attack and requiring embassy employees and their families to receive approval before traveling to Israel's south.
    Taher Nunu, a spokesman for the Hamas government, denied the militants' complicity, saying Gaza "has nothing to do with these attacks."
    The Israeli military said the attacks had been executed by a Hamas-linked group known as the Popular Resistance Committees, and that their objective had been to kidnap civilians or soldiers. The group was involved in the capture of an Israeli soldier, Sgt. Gilad Schalit, who has been held captive in Gaza for more than five years.
    An Israeli airstrike on Gaza killed five members of the group, including its commander, as well as the 3-year-old child of one of the militants, according to Hamas security officials.
    A spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, Abu Mujahid, would not comment on its alleged complicity. He threatened retaliation for the deaths of the group's members.
    Though it seemed clear the gunmen had come through Egyptian territory, Gen. Khaled Fouda, the governor of the southern Sinai district, said no shooting had come from the Egyptian side.
    "The incident underscores the weak Egyptian hold on Sinai and the broadening of the activities of terrorists," said Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. "The real source of the terror is in Gaza, and we will act against them with full force and determination."
    The Sinai desert, dominated by Bedouin tribes and never entirely under the control of the central government, have grown more violent since a popular uprising toppled longtime Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak in February. Since then, assailants have repeatedly blown up a crucial pipeline carrying natural gas to Israel and Jordan.
    Egypt moved thousands of troops into the area last week as part of a major operation against al-Qaida-inspired militants who have been increasingly active there since Mubarak's ouster.
    Most of the routine traffic across the remote, mountainous border involves Bedouin smugglers ferrying drugs and African asylum seekers into Israel.
    There is a thriving smuggling trade between Sinai and Gaza through tunnels under the border, and goods and people can move in both directions. If the attackers were from Gaza, they could have reached Sinai through the tunnels and then crossed the Israel-Egypt border, which is largely unfenced, making their way toward Eilat, which is 130 miles (200 kilometers) from Gaza.
    Rizek Abdul Jawad contributed to this report from Gaza City.

  • #2
    Rockets have been continuously and indiscriminately launched throughout the entire weekend at the civilian population causing injuries and deaths, and last I checked Hamas have withdrawn from their cease-fire with Israel. That news is a day old, I'm on vacation with visiting family from the US so I'm not as up to date as I'd like to be
    Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

    Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

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    • #3
      CAIRO — The Egyptian and Israeli governments moved Sunday to ease tensions over fatal cross-border attacks, apparently seeking to stop the crisis from flaring up into a full-scale diplomatic rift.

      Egypt, which reacted angrily in the first days after the killings of three of its security officers by Israel, maintained a low profile on Sunday, while senior government officials held crisis meetings in private.

      An Israeli official confirmed that an Israeli military delegation arrived in Egypt on Sunday, quietly and unannounced, for behind-the-scenes talks with Egyptian officials, and a second Israeli official issued a public statement of regret for the deaths of Egyptian soldiers.

      The dispute arose Thursday after Palestinian militants carried out an attack in southern Israel, near the Egyptian border, killing eight Israelis. Israeli security forces chasing the militants fired into Egypt, killing three Egyptian soldiers in what officials have said was an accident.

      Israel has yet to officially accept responsibility for the killings but has promised to hold a joint inquiry with Egypt to determine the facts.

      The killings prompted an outpouring of rage against Israel in Cairo and provided a thorny diplomatic test for Egypt’s new military government, which has sought to maintain its peaceful relationship with Israel while being responsive to the street, where antipathy toward Israel holds sway.

      The Egyptian cabinet issued a statement on Saturday demanding an apology and an investigation, and saying the ambassador to Israel would be recalled. Thousands of protesters gathered outside the Israeli Embassy in Cairo, burning an Israeli flag and demanding the ambassador be expelled and the embassy closed.

      The protests at the embassy continued on Sunday night, but the crowd had dwindled to several hundred. They waved flags, launched fireworks at the building and chanted slogans, including “Close the embassy” and “Arab blood is not cheap.” Some expressed anger that the Egyptian military government had not taken sterner measures against Israel.

      Egyptian soldiers took up positions in armored cars nearby, but kept their distance in an apparent attempt to avoid confrontations.

      The noisy demonstration contrasted sharply with the remarkable official silence from both governments.

      Egyptian authorities made no official statements on Sunday, and there were conflicting reports about whether the government intended to follow through with the announced plan to recall its ambassador to Israel. A statement about recalling the ambassador was removed from the cabinet’s Web site over the weekend, shortly after being posted.

      In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refrained from making any public remarks over the weekend.

      Israeli officials have also stopped publicly criticizing Egypt for the lawlessness in the Sinai Peninsula, where Israel says the militants crossed the border to carry out their multi-pronged attack on Thursday. Earlier statements to that effect fueled the initial fury in Cairo, and the Egyptian cabinet expressed anger at the Israeli comments.

      Israel’s president, Shimon Peres, expressed regret on Sunday for the Egyptian deaths, building on a similar statement by Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Saturday.

      “I regret that Egyptian soldiers fell and am certain that no Israeli would want to see Egyptian soldiers killed,” the statement by Mr. Peres said. “I convey my condolences to the Egyptian people and the soldiers’ families.”

      Among the conciliatory official statements, one dissonant note came from the Arab League, which condemned Israel. According to the Egyptian official news agency MENA, the group issued a statement saying that it held Israel “fully responsible.”

      The anger on the streets of Cairo was evidence that the fall of President Hosni Mubarak in February has ushered in a new era in which Egyptians critical of their country’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel are far more willing to give public voice to anti-Israel sentiments. So far it is unclear how the military government will respond.

      The diplomatic challenge it faces was perhaps brought into sharpest relief on Sunday by the instant celebrity accorded Ahmed el-Shahat, now known on Twitter as #Flagman.

      Mr. Shahat scaled the multi-story Israeli embassy building in the early hours of Sunday, removed the Israeli flag and replaced it with an Egyptian one. He brought the blue and white Israeli standard down with him, where it was burned and he was celebrated as a local hero.

      After video of the climb appeared on YouTube and circulated on Twitter, his fame circled the globe.

      “My happiness is indescribable,” he told the Jazeera Live Egypt television channel in a telephone interview. “I did something that millions of Arabs want to do, to bring down the Israeli flag. This is a chance to put more fear in the hearts of the Zionists.”

      Isabel Kershner contributed reporting from Jerusalem.

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      • #4
        Following Article is taken from Gubu World.

        Egypt and Israel, the Future
        In light of yesterday's horrific events in southern Israel where six civilians were murdered by militants who penetrated the Israeli Egyptian border I want to discuss the situation with Egypt post Mubarak, and whether or not the criticism aimed at the Obama administration for allowing the former regime to collapse is justified. Yesterday terrorists from Egypt, possibly Hamas members, cut through a border fence with Israel and opened fire on a bus killing six civilians and two police men. In response Israel bombed Gaza last night and there have been reports this morning of further attacks on Israel that have caused injuries. Perhaps most worrying of all is that it appears Egyptian soldiers may have been killed by the IDF as they were pursuing the terrorists back across the Egyptian border.
        Since the Camp David Accords were signed in 1979 Egypt's border with Israel has been relatively secure. President Hosni Mubarak and the military regime which he exercised complete control of never broke the terms of the peace agreement. This proved extremely unpopular with elements within Egypt and the peace treaty with the Jewish state remains the nations' most contentious political issue. When Mubarak was overthrown last February the private fear of everyone was would the new regime honour the terms of the peace treaty. The collection of generals currently in charge have stated that they do intend to follow Mubarak's policy toward Israel. However the inevitable post Mubarak instability in Egypt that is likely to continue for some time has raised fears that a radical regime, possibly the Muslim Brotherhood will eventually take over in Egypt. In any event the situation on the border is certain to become much more precarious as the military in Cairo come under pressure to demonstrate to their people that they are not passive in front of Israeli aggression as the Muslim Brotherhood claim. If Egyptian soldiers have been killed by the Israelis, we might be seeing the beginning of the end of the Camp David Accords.

        There is no doubt the instability in Egypt is a security nightmare for the Israelis. They have no idea how this will end but it could finish with Israel having a massive enemy on its southern border that will ally itself with Hamas. This has led many people to criticise President Obama for not supporting Mubark during the unrest. Many have compared it to President Carter's refusal to support the Shah of Iran prior to the 1979 Iranian revolution which brought the current fundamentalist regime to power in Tehran. My view is as follows. The United States should not support dictators unless it is vital to American security. The US should never back a dictator who is crushing an uprising against his people unless it is literally a life or death situation, cold war style. Even if there is a good chance that the fall of a dictator will result in a hostile regime I believe the US does not have the right to pull the strings behind the scenes and altar the course of events to suit American interests.
        During the Cold War an uprising in Cuba led to the overthrow of President Babtista, a right wing pro American dictator. The failure of the Eisenhower regime to prevent this from happening was a mistake as it almost led to World War Three which would have cost billions of lives. The Americans learned from this mistake and prevented similar things from happening in Chile, Argentina and Guatameala. These were exceptionally difficult decisions that had to be made but they were indicative of the lesser of two evils situation that characterised the Cold War. However since the end of the Cold War when global war was no longer a possible alternative, the policy of coming to the rescue of friendly dictators dissipated. The first real example of this came when President George W Bush refused to commit during an attempted coup against Venezuela's Hugo Chavez in 2001. Bush realised that in a post Cold War environment the policy of actively aiding a dictator to crush his enemies could no longer be justified. I believe that this is still the case. Whatever my feelings about Islamic terrorism and its global threat, I think it pails in significance to the threat once posed by the Soviet Union. That is why the American President, this year or next should continue to support the people of the Middle East as they rise up against their tyrants. They deserve their shot at freedom. They may not succeed and regimes may be replaced by worse, but the President cannot play God in this. It remains however an exceptionally difficult situation for Israel. While it may not be life or death for the world the way it was during the Cuban Missile Crisis it is for Israel which is why I hope that the US, Europe and all others who value international peace and security continue to Lobby the new Egyptian government to maintain its peace treaty with Israel and work hard to prevent similar incidents as yesterdays outrage in Eliat.

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