Large Terrorist Attack Cost an IDF Death'

Nadene Goldfoot
A large terrorist attack which would probably have resulted in a killing spree either inside Israel or along the border was stopped by the IDF who were ambushed.  What were the IDF soldiers doing?  They had been giving water to a group of African migrants who had arrived at the border trying to cross into Israel.

As they were doing that good deed, a heavily armed terrorist cell from the Sinai Peninsula opened fire on them, killing Netanel Yahalomi, age 20, and injuring another.    The shots came from a distance of 100 meters.  Netanel was killed immediately with a bullet wound to his head.  The soldiers instantly returned fire and shot and killed 2 of the terrorists.  A group of Border Patrol soldiers also responded, gave chase and killed the 3rd.

One of the terrorists was wearing a suicide bomb belt and it went off.  Shrapnel from that injured one soldier enough to rush him to Be'ersheba where he was operated on.  IDF sappers recovered a lot of firearms and explosives after the incident including an RPD machine gun and a rocket propelled grenade, Kalashnikov guns, ammunition, grenades and personal equipment.  They were dressed as civilians.

Of course it happened along the border where the fence hasn't yet been completed.

"Border security incidents have increased over the past 18 months as a wave of lawlessness has gripped the Sinai since the overthrow of veteran Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak."

http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=285809
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/israel-kills-3-egypt-border-averts-major-attack-104458419.html

How Are Egypt and Israel Getting Along During This Rioting?

Nadene Goldfoot
At least Mubarak was continuing the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, something Sadat previously had established.  Israelis were even tourists happy to see Egypt for the first time.  I missed the chance of doing so in 1981 and opted to study for my year end exam in Hebrew instead during my Spring break.  Today, I wouldn't do it out of fear for my life.

So what's going on now that Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood Makha, is at the helm?  I found out that as far back as 2007 when Condoleeza Rice was Secretary of State, the USA had the US Army Corps of Engineers in Egypt making plans to improve the security on the border.  The USA has a $23 million dollar project which has seismic sensors there to alert others about invaders through tunnels, etc.  They have another $50 million dollar project to promote development in the region as they feel it takes more than alarms to secure the region.  So America has invested money into Egypt to keep the peace through both Bush and Obama.

Now, just since August 11, we have brought in 700 American soldiers in the region.  16 Egyptian soldiers were killed by 35 masked gunmen in the Sinai. Then they "barreled" into Israel in a truck they stole and an armored vehicle.   Egypt has been getting $1.5 billion per year in arms and military assistance, but it didn't keep out the terrorists on the border.  Morsi must now realize that it's to both Israel and Egypt's good to keep out terrorism.  The question is whether or not Israel will make be forced to make concessions in modifying a 33 year old peace treaty to allow for a more "aggressive Egyptian military presence."  Israelis see Morsi as one who supports the international system of states.  There are people in Egypt who are tying to challenge this.  Since Morsi is a head Muslim Brotherhood person, and this group is all for jihad, I see it is causing difficulties for him to make a decision as to which path to take.

An APC or armoured personnel carrier 

Egypt needs to become sharper and more efficient concerning terrorism. Morsi traveled to the Sinai with his defense minister, intelligence chief and interior minister.  They blame militants in Sinai who were aided by Palestinians in Gaza.  Here again, is the wrench in the works.  The Muslim Brotherhood said in a statement on the Web that Israel had sought to "thwart Egypt's revolution and could be responsible for the attack and that the attack highlighted the need to reconsider the peace treaty with Israel which restricts the number of troops Egypt can station in Sinai.

Israel shut down Kerem Shalom, the one commercial crossing into Gaza.  Egypt closed Rafah where goods and people pass through.  Hamas blocked the tunnels which everything goes through that are smuggled out of Egypt.  The Gazans wound up in long lines to load up on gas and food out of fear of higher prices.

Since then we have had the explosion of anti-American riots where Egypt's American Embassy was the first to be hit.  The security forces did not stop the American flag from being taken down from the outer wall and replaced with a Muslim one.  Somebody there has a talent for scaling walls.  This rioting has spread to over 20 other Muslim countries with religious leaders egging the masses on.

There are foreign peacekeepers in the Sinai today made up from a Multinational Force and Observers base who were just attacked by armed Islamist militants out of the latest protests sweeping the Muslim world.  They threw hand grenades and fired rocket-propelled grenades and had entered the peacekeepers camp and of course raised a black Islamist flag.  5 officers were wounded; 2 Egyptian military officers, 2 Colombians and a British fire chief.  Americans were also there. and they were all part of the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.  This happened on Friday at 4:30 Cairo time on September 14, 2012.  Militant had set tires on fire outside the base.  The wounded were evacuated to Israel.  American and fijian troops are now responsible for securing the camp.

What did the Egyptian military do about it?  They sent 4 armored personnel carriers there and sent reinforcements 2 hours later.  They have 12 Egyptian military APCs surrounding the base.  Base officers think local tribal elders were at the base convincing attackers to retreat before the Egyptian military arrived.

Resource:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/world/middleeast/egypt-and-us-step-up-talks-on-security-assistance.html?pagewanted=all&_moc.semityn.www
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/0914/Peacekeepers-attacked-in-Egypt-s-Sinai-Peninsula-foreigners-injured

Payback For Hitting Sderot

Nadene Goldfoot
This week the UN wrote such a pathetically terrible report, inaccurate and unbalanced as usual on Gaza that Israel's ambassador, Ron Prosor, wrote a sharp letter to the Security Council's President Gerard Araud "that a group of researchers on the moon could have produced a more accurate and balanced report than this one on Gaza.  This week, Israel's children started their school year with the all-too-familiar sounds of sirens and explosions as terrorists in Gaza fired 6 more rockets into their communities," he wrote as a starter.

This week southern Israel suffered rocket fire from several rockets, one of which had hit a home in Sderot early Friday morning, so the Israel Air Force (IDF) identified the cell responsible and identified an accurate strike.  At least 3 Palestinians were killed and one injured.  It was near the border.  The wounded were rushed to a local hospital by ambulances.  Three targets in Gaza were struck for the rocket fire on Sderot and the surrounding area.  Two weapons production sites and a weapons warehouse were hit in northern Gaza in the retaliation.

The terrorists should know by now that when they hit Israel, it's a sure thing that they'll get it back in return.

Resource: http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=283988#

Counterterrorism in Gaza: AQAP Saudi Cell Caught With Poison Chemicals

Nadene Goldfoot
Last Sunday, August 26, 3 rockets hit Sderot, Israel which lies just a few miles from the Gaza Strip border.  This time 2 workmen were injured.  On the very same day, 2 terrorist cells were captured in Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  Both were created by Al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula  This group, AQAP, has ordered its Sinai cells and the Egyptian and Palestinian branches to step up their attacks from Sinai and the Gaza Strip.  AQAP is an al--Qaeda group who revere Osama bin Laden of Yemen and Saudi Arabia.  The Saudi government evidently chased them into Yemen, whose government is also against them.

The AQAP have been found with not only weapons and explosives, but chemical substances for loading into explosive charges.  This type of evidence was found in 2002 when a bomb was found packed with poison chemicals and was detonated by a Palestinian suicide killer in Jerusalem.  It is feared that those weapons may also now be in the Sinai.

The result was 3 Qassam missiles fired into the industrial zone of Sderot-Shear Hanegev.   This started an even stronger anti-Israel offensive from Gaza.  The group in Gaza shooting is the Shura Council that is actually from the East Jerusalem area who are a 6,000 force of well-armed terrorists commanded by an Egyptian, Hisham Saydani.  Al Qaeda calls him Abu al-Walid al-Maqdisi.  His lieutenants and he serve as liaisons between the Sinai cells and the AQAP in Yemen.

Hamas terrorists who rule Gaza were holding Saydani in a special security prison cell until 2 weeks ago when they let him go.  He set up the Shura Council's attack near Rafah.  They killed 16 Egyptian soldiers and rammed the Kerem Shalom crossing barrier into Israel.    Egypt demanded that Hamas find and arrest them. The 3 missile strike on Sderot was warning Hamas to stay away from Saydani and his new group or they'd keep striking Sderot until the IDF would attack Hamas's areas.

Hitting Eilat, Israel on August 17 was also a warning to Cairo to stop looking for the Salafi terrorists in Sinai or else southern Israel would continue to be hit, bringing out the IDF strikes.

Resource:  Debka@thejmg.com  Al Qaeda targets Saudi Arabia, Israel, Saudi cell found with chemicals, special report
http://atlanticsentinel.com/2012/08/saudis-arrest-al-qaeda-cells-with-links-to-gaza-sinai/  very thorough
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda_in_the_Arabian_Peninsula