Suicide bomber kills, injures Egyptian forces … JPost – Defense.

    A number of Egyptian soldiers were killed and injured after a suicide bomber blew himself up on the Egyptian side of the border with Israel on Friday morning near The Philadelphi Route crossing.

Security officials said that the suicide bomber was thought to belong to the Popular Resistance Committees, the organization who orchestrated the terror attacks near Eilat on Thursday that left eight people dead.

On Thursday, two Egyptian security personnel were killed during an IDF raid on terrorists along the Egyptian Israeli border, an Egyptian army official told Reuters..

The army official said the men from the Central Security force were killed as the IDF chased terrorists along the border of Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Taba in South Sinai and Eilat.

“An IDF plane had been chasing militant infiltrators along the border between Taba and Eliat and one Egyptian Central Security officer and a Central Security man were caught in the line of fire,” the army official said.

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security.

DEBKAfile Special Report August 19, 2011, 9:29 AM (GMT+02:00)

Terrorists attack southern Israel

After the Israeli Air Force struck 12 Hamas and other terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Thursday, Aug. 18,  a hail of missiles hit the towns of  Ashdod, Beersheba, Ashkelon and the smaller Sdot Negev, Shar Hanegev and Eshkol villages in a continuous blitz Friday, Aug. 19. Six worshippers were injured – one seriously – when one of the six Grads aimed at Ashdod hit a synagogue. The town’s population is advised to stay in sheltered spaces.  Iron Dome is in action in Ashkelon. Red alerts have sounded in Gedera, Kiryat Gath and Gan Yavne.
Since 20 heavily armed gunmen killed eight Israelis and injured 33 in a multiple terrorist attack outside Eilat in southern Israel Thursday, Israel’s armed forces, police and emergency services have been on high alert and reinforced. All weekend public events were cancelled in the South.
In the attack, gunmen from Gaza crossed the unfenced border from Egyptian into southern Israel and attacked two buses, two civilian cars and a military vehicle in an unfolding, complex terrorist operation which bore the signature of the Lebanese Hizballah and possibly al Qaeda fugitives from Iraq.

Seven were located and killed by police and army special forces. Shortly after the Palestinian attack, the Israeli Air Force struck a building in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, killing the six top leaders of the Popular Resistance Committees which directed the attack along with other Palestinian groups linked to al Qaeda. Israel’s overnight air strikes hit more PRC as well as Hamas installations, weapons stores and smuggling tunnels.

Israeli forces backed by helicopters dropping flares combed the 70 kilometers of borderland running south from the Gaza Strip along the Egyptian Sinai border to flush out escaped terrorists and explosives traps. The searches continue Friday. The death Thursday night of Border Police Counter-Terror Unit’s Senior NCO Paskal Avrahami, 49, from Jerusalem, raised the day’s toll from terrorist attacks to eight. He was killed by one of the terrorists at large who had crossed back into Sinai.
1st Sgt. Moshe Naftali, 22, from Ofra, member of the Golani unit, was killed in the multiple attacks earlier that day. The other six victims were civilians.
Egyptian forces carrying out an anti-terror operation in Sinai were beefed after the multiple attack in Israel to block further passage of terrorists from Gaza into Israel. One unit traded shots with a suicide team early Friday after Egyptian chief of staff Gen. Sami Annan paid an overnight visit to the Sinai forces.

Chaos on its borders could see Israel’s worst fears realised – Telegraph.

Israel disliked the Arab Spring from the beginning, and especially the overthrow of its long-term strategic ally, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.

Wounded Israeli soldiers are treated at the site of a shooting along the border with Egypt. Photo: AP

In the Negev desert yesterday, their first fears were realised. Their worst fears remain on the horizon, but as Syria descends into chaos, Libya’s civil war heads towards an uncertain end and Iran and Hizbollah seek to distract attention from recent strategic setbacks, they loom ever larger.

The Israeli Defence Force insisted that the gang that carried out the well-planned attack came originally from Gaza. Nevertheless, they came through Egypt’s Sinai desert via what is increasingly looking like a weak spot in Israeli defences.

It was once the only border they could rely on.

While attention has focused on the decision by the interim government in Egypt partially to reopen the border crossing with Gaza at Rafa, of just as great a significance was the general lawlessness into which parts of the country were plunged as President Mubarak fell from power.

Nowhere was that more the case than the Sinai. Under the Camp David agreement which saw it returned to Egyptian sovereignty three decades ago, Cairo promised the peninsula would remain demilitarised.

But the police force collapsed in the early days of the Egyptian revolution, its eagerness to shoot protesters dead forcing its withdrawal from the streets. In Sinai, with no army to take over, and where Bedouin tribes and militants had always used the mountains as a shield from the authorities, that left a vacuum.

As recently as Tuesday the Egyptian army – after getting agreement from the Israelis – launched an operation against what is said to be a fully-functioning al-Qaeda cell in the Sinai town of El-Arish.

Israel is often accused of paranoid behaviour, but whatever its treatment of the Palestinians directly under its security umbrella there is no doubt that many Arab groups are out to get it. Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has already allowed a mass incursion into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as a diversion from his woes. Meanwhile Israel fears that Hizbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, is gearing up to provoke another war over the Lebanese border. Security experts are also concerned at what might happen to Col Muammar Gaddafi’s known stocks of chemical weapons – mainly mustard gas – if and when he falls.

The rebel leadership would no doubt promise to secure them and hand them over to a third party for disposal, but whether it has the means first to prevent them falling into the arms of the numerous militias that have sprung up, few likely to be friendly towards Israel, is another matter. The desert then provides a ready smuggling route to Israel’s frontiers.

Whatever the outcome of current debates in Egypt about its future – military, Islamist or liberal – none of the participants has any interest in provoking an immediate conflict with Israel.

But now, the principal official response seemed to be denial. In the coming hours, both Israel and the West will be watching for something fuller, as a major test of the country’s intentions.

Southern Israel hit by rocket fire – Israel News, Ynetnews.

At least 10 rockets fired at southern communities, including Beersheba area overnight. Rocket explodes near haredi yeshiva in Ashdod leaving two injured

Shmulik Hadad

Less than half an hour earlier, a Color Red siren was sounded in the Ashdod and Gedera area. A rocket hit an open area near Ashdod. No injuries or damage were reported.

At least 10 rockets were fired at Israel’s southern communities overnight on Friday, less than a day after eight Israelis were killed in multiple terror attacks near Eilat.

At around 8:10 am two rockets were fired at Ashdod and Gedera and a Color Red siren was sounded in the area. One of the rockets exploded near a haredi yeshiva in Ashdod. Two people sustained light to moderate wounds and several suffered anxiety attacks. Minor damage was caused to the building. The other rocket apparently landed in an open field.

Earlier, at around 5:50 am, a siren was sounded in Beersheba and shortly thereafter a blast was heard as a rocket hit an open field near the city.

A rocket also exploded south of Gedera. Rockets were also fired at the Eshkol and Shaar Hanegev regional councils. Sirens were sounded in Ashkelon and Ashdod. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

IDF strikes Gaza targets (Photo: Reuters)

Beersheba Mayor Rubik Danilovitch called on residents to adhere to instructions by the defense establishments. An Iron Dome battery was deployed in the city.

Also Friday morning, a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip at Gan Yavne and landed in an open field. Thirty minutes later an additional rocket landed in an open area in the Eshkol Regional Council. There were no reports of injuries or damage in both cases.

Earlier, a Color Red alarm was sounded three times across southern communities. In two cases, rockets hit open areas in the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council, and in one case in an open field in the Sdot Negev Regional Council.

A total of four rockets were fired at Ashkelon on Thursday, two of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome system. The rockets had been aimed at residential areas. The other two rockets exploded in open areas. Security forces scanned the area. No injuries or damage were reported.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Air Force launched extensive strikes in the Gaza Strip. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit confirmed that IAF jets attacked seven targets in the Gaza Strip in response to Thursday’s terror attacks and the firing of rockets at southern communities.

According to the statement, two terror centers and an arms manufacturing warehouse were attacked in the northern Strip, while two smuggling tunnels, a terrorist tunnel and a terror center were attacked in southern Gaza.

Palestinians reported that a fire had broken out in one targeted area which left one teen dead and dozens injured.

On Thursday, the IDF bombed a Rafah building where senior members of the Popular Resistance Committees, who were behind the Eilat terror attacks, were staying.

Palestinian sources reported that six people were killed in the strike, including Kamal Nirab, commander of the PRC’s military wing and Khaled Shaath, a senior member of the terror group.

It appears Shaath’s son or daughter were among the fatalities. Imad Hamad and Khaled al-Masri, who were both involved in a number of terror attacks against Israel including the abduction of Gulad Shalit were also killed in the attack.

Ilana Curiel and Tova Dadon contributed to this report

Israel kills PRC leadership in Gaza airstrike – JPost – Defense.

Photo by: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa / Reuters

    Israel’s response to the terror attacks from the Sinai Peninsula came swiftly Thursday evening when the Israel Air Force bombed the southern Gaza Strip, killing the leadership of the Popular Resistance Committee (PRC), who had orchestrated the attacks.

At least seven Israelis, including a soldier from the Golani Brigade, were killed earlier in the day in a multiple-stage attack carried out by PRC members who infiltrated into Israel from Egypt.

The PRC terrorists killed in the retaliatory IAF airstrike included the head of the terror group Kamal Nirab, who the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said, personally directed and planned the attack.

Another terrorist killed in the strike was identified as Amas Hamed, commander of the PRC’s military wing and a resident of Rafah. The Shin Bet said that Hamed was involved in the abduction of Gilad Schalit over five years ago and oversaw numerous terror attacks against Israel including suicide bombings and rocket attacks.

Two other known PRC terrorists, including one who was also involved in Schalit’s abduction, were also killed in the airstrike.

“The terrorists were directly involved in the attacks along the Israeli-Egyptian border,” a security official said.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that Israel would respond forcefully and that the terrorist groups behind the attack would pay a price for their actions.

“I set a principle that when Israeli citizens are hurt we will respond immediately and forcefully,” Netanyahu said. “This principle will also be applied today.”

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that the IDF would escalate its response to the attacks. He said that Egypt had lost its grip over the Sinai Peninsula and that terrorist organizations were able to move around there freely.

“The IDF has already struck the heads of the PRC in Gaza and if there will be a need, the strikes will intensify,” Barak said. “The IDF will use all of the force necessary to protect Israel’s citizens and to enable a normal way of life in the country.”

On Thursday night, a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed south of Ashkelon. Defense officials ordered security officers in communities along the border with Gaza to prepare for an escalation in rocket fire. The Iron Dome counter-rocket defense system later intercepted a Grad-model Katyusha rocket fired from the Gaza Strip at Ashkelon.

PRC Spokesman Abu Mujahed released a statement that Israel would be held responsible  for “all the consequences of its crimes,” according to the Maan news agency.

Multiple terror attacks rock south; 7 killed – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Four terror attacks near Eilat claim seven lives, leave 31 injured as passenger bus, military patrol and private car targeted; IDF kills seven terrorists. Security forces declare high alert in southern sector

Ynet reporters

Terrorists armed with heavy weapons, guns and explosives launched three attacks in quick succession in southern Israel near the border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Thursday, killing at least seven people and wounding 31 more, officials said.   The assailants targeted a passenger bus, a military patrol and a private car. “We are talking about a terror squad that infiltrated into Israel,” said IDF spokeswoman Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich. “This is a combined terrorist attack against Israelis.”   Defense officials say the cell that committed the attack was comprised of 10-20 terrorists. Security forces succeeded in killing seven, and found an explosive device on one of the bodies. An additional terrorist was seen escaping into Egypt, and officials say the manhunt continues.   Officials believe the cell was planning a more extensive attack but quick responses by the IDF and special forces prevented additional casualties.   The attacks began around 12 pm, when a cell of three terrorists opened fire on Egged bus 392, heading for Eilat. Witnesses say the three, dressed in IDF uniforms, opened a barrage of fire on the bus, which was packed full of passengers. Egged bus after attack (Photo: Reuters) Authorities suspect the terrorists emerged from a white car that was following the bus. They exited the car and began spraying the bus with bullets, firing from top to bottom.   Soldiers who were on the bus returned fire, and then began to treat the wounded. The bus stopped when it reached an IDF checkpoint at Netafim junction.   A second attack, which took place at around 12:30 pm, took place near the Egyptian border. Explosive devices were detonated with the aim of hitting an IDF force headed towards the scene of the first attack. The IDF says there were a number of casualties.   In a third attack, which took place at 12:40 pm, a mortar shell exploded near a vehicle. No one was hurt.   In a fourth attack, which took place at 1:30 pm, terrorists fired at another bus and a private vehicle. In addition, an anti-tank missile was fired at the bus, but hit the private vehicle instead, killing those inside.   After the fourth attack special forces fired at the terrorists and clashes ensued. A number of terrorists were killed, according to reports.   According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, an IDF force that arrived at the scene of the first attack hit an explosive device, and soldiers were injured. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen Benny Gantz and Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino are en route to GOC Southern Command, where they will confer with Southern Command Chief Major-General Tal Russo.   Military officials say the attack was well-planned, and that the terrorists were well-coordinated throughout. Aside from rifles, the gunmen also had a number of missiles at their disposal, and the army fears they may have been planning to kidnap a soldier. Man injured on Highway 12 (Photo: Herzl Yosef)    US condemns attack Seven of the wounded were evacuated to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, according to Dr. Miki Saraf. He said one of those moderately injured is currently undergoing surgery and that a few others would probably need operations as well.   Heavy security forces presence is still noted in the area, as a massive manhunt involving IDF ground forces and aircraft is currently taking place.   Eilat Police have ordered emergency deployment in the area, and a situation room has been set up at the Yoseftal Hospital, which has declared a mass casualty event.   All of the roads leading to Eilat have been closed, as was the Ovda Airfield. Eilat’s airport has been placed on alert.   In addition, the Anti Terror Bureau released a statement Thursday evening warning Israelis against visiting Sinai. Israelis already there should leave immediately, the statement adds.   “Following the terror in the south, please note that a grave travel warning is still in effect on Sinai,” the bureau stated.   Egypt denies involvement Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak held a security assessment following the attack. The Prime Minister’s Office said Netanyahu was being apprised of the situation as it progressed.   “This was a grave terror attack at multiple scenes. It reflects Egypt’s failing hold on Sinai and the rise of terror elements,” Barak said. “This terror attack originated from Gaza. We will exhaust all measures against the terrorists.”   An Egyptian security official denied Thursday that Egypt had any involvement in the attacks. The official told Egyptian media that the armed terrorists operated from within Israel’s borders.   “Egypt was in no way involved in the incident, since it is difficult to penetrate the Egypt-Israel border. Moreover, it is impossible to open fire from the Egyptian side to Israel because of the distance,” he said.   Ynet learned Thursday that shortly before Thursday’s attacks, Jordan had passed a message to Israel suggesting their intelligence indicated that a terror cell was plotting such an attack.   The warning was in tow with defense establishment indications of a clear and present threats of terror in the southern sector.   AP, Ahuva Mamos, Aviel Magnezi, Ilana Curiel, Hanan Greenberg, Ron Ben-Yiahsi, Ezra Arbeli, Neri Brener, Roi Nahmias and Reuters contributed to this report

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security.

DEBKAfile Special Report August 18, 2011, 6:09 PM (GMT+02:00)

Israel bus shot up on main highway to Eilat

Thursday, August 18, Israel had its first taste of a sophisticated al Qaeda-style coordinated terrorist operation modeled on the atrocities common in Afghanistan and Iraq. Israeli intelligence services, army (IDF) and Police were taken by surprise by the scale and slick organization of the multiple assaults that were staged near Eilat on the highway running south parallel to the Egyptian border by gunmen of the Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees and Palestinian organizations linked to al Qaeda.

Seven Israelis were killed, including two women, and about 40 injured in shooting attacks on two buses and other vehicles and by the roadside bombing of a military vehicle. UN personnel were quickly evacuated from the Gaza Strip and Egypt locked the Gaza-Sinai crossing as Israel prepared to mete out punishment.

debkafile‘s military sources estimate that Lebanese Shiite Hizballah experts may have aided the terrorists in setting up the complex operation.
Towards evening, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated that Israel’s response would be “commensurate with the breach of its sovereignty.”  Defense Minister Ehud Barak said “The source of the terror is Gaza.” He did not specify whether he knew the gunmen had in fact reached the scene of the attack from Gaza or elsewhere.

A Hamas spokesman threatened Israel with a sharp reprisal if Gaza were attacked. Terrorist facilities of Hamas and other organizations have reportedly been evacuated and Qassam, Grad and mortar batteries deployed ready for launching.

The IDF estimates that the attackers numbering at least 20 came from the Gaza Strip and took up positions near the Sinai border with Israel to wait for the signal to go ahead.

The Defense Minister, Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Ganz, and Military Intelligence Chief Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi are widely blamed for falling down on precautions for protecting the South although they knew in advance that the Egyptian army was about to embark on a large-scale counter-terror operations in Sinai. Defense ministry sources admitted that they had received a heads-up on a terror attack. It was up to all three to have taken into account that Egypt’s Sinai Operation Eagle would be exploited by Palestinian or Al Qaeda terrorists to let loose against Israel. Egypt may suspend its campaign if Israel strikes back against Gaza.
US and Israeli intelligence officials reported Wednesday night, August 17, they were helping the Egyptian Sinai operation by keeping its commander abreast of Palestinian and Al Qaida movements in Sinai.

However, 12 hours later, America which maintains a network of surveillance teams and observation posts across Sinai and Israel intelligence were both shown to be at a loss for real time information on terrorist activities in the peninsula.

A multiple assault by 20 gunmen using automatic guns, RPGs, mortars and roadside bombers could not have been an off-the-cuff operation. It entailed long planning. Its participants had to receive detailed instructions and be brought to the scenes of attack to familiarize themselves with the arena.
Their spies must have spent weeks observing military and civilian vehicular traffic on the highway and carefully picked the targets.

Yet none of these activities aroused suspicion. The big question is how did the gunmen managed to drive down one of the main routes to Eilat undetected. Did they cross the border from Sinai by car without arousing the notice of the Israeli military or border police? Or did their confederates meet them with vehicles for their use on the Israeli side?

The attack itself was meticulously designed to go forward in stages.
First, a three-man cell shot up an Egged bus bringing soldiers to Eilat on leave.
An Israeli unit trying to reach the scene of attack then ran over roadside bombs planted in advance. The explosion killed or injured its passengers.

After that, several anti-tank missiles, possibly RPGs, set a second bus on fire and hit a civilian car killing four people..

A special police unit had meanwhile located the three-man team which attacked the first bus and killed them all in a firefight. Two of their bodies were found to be rigged with explosions. Four more were killed after being hunted down.
The IDF has closed all the roads to the South to traffic for more sweeps to locate missing terrorists and explosives.
Its inhabitants as far south as Eilat, Israel’s southernmost town and port, are in a high state of suspense for the IDF counter-terror operation to come.

Netanyahu promises Israeli response to Eilat a… JPost – Defense.

    Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke to Eilat Mayor Meir Yitzhak-Halevy on Thursday following three separate terror attacks in the area, telling him, “We’re talking about a serious incident in which Israeli citizens were hurt and the country’s sovereignty was harmed.”

He promised the mayor that Israel would respond to the attacks which killed at least seven Israelis on Thursday.

Separately, the prime minister’s office reminded Israelis that a travel warning against Sinai exists and it urged all Israelis vacationing there to leave.

Earlier on Thursday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that the IDF will hunt down the perpetrators of the three-stage terrorist attack along Israel’s border with Egypt.

Barak said that Israel will strike back at the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza in response to the attacks.

Speaking from his office at the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, the defense minister added that the IDF was assessing the security situation along the border with Egypt.

“The attacks demonstrate the weakening of Egypt’s control over the Sinai peninsula and the expansion of terrorist activity there,” Barak said, adding “These attacks originate in Gaza and we will act against them with full force and resolve.”

Commander of the IDF’s Edom Division, which is responsible for the border with Egypt, Brig.-Gen. Tamir Yidayi said that he had set up a command post at the scene of the attack to coordinate inter agency efforts to locate the perpetrators.

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security.

DEBKAfile Special Report August 18, 2011, 4:15 PM (GMT+02:00)

Israel bus attacked near Eilat

Israeli goes on highest terror alert after a string of terrorist attacks still ongoing near the Israeli-Egyptian border north of Eilat Thursday, Aug. 18 left seven Israeli soldiers and civilians dead and 33 injured. Five servicemen are in critical condition. The assailants who may have crossed in from Sinai used automatic, anti-tank weapons, mortars and roadside bombs for separate attacks on two buses and civilian and military vehicles on Highway 12 near the Israeli-Egyptian Sinai border.

All three gunmen who attacked the bus were killed in a firefight with the Israeli police force. Some 20 terrorists are estimated to have taken part in the attacks. All the highways to Eilat are closed to traffic as the entire southern region is scoured for more terrorists and bombs.

 debkafile reported earlier: A special police force located the gunmen who shot up two Israeli buses north of Eilat, Israel’s southern most town and port, and engaged them in a firefight. Casualties are reported.

The gunmen first attacked an Israeli Egged bus north of Eilat, injuring at least six passengers Thursday morning. The 392 bus carrying mostly soldiers on leave from Beersheba to Eilat came under automatic fire on Highway 12 as it passed the Netafim checkpoint on the Israeli-Egyptian border of Sinai from attackers who jumped out of a private vehicle which had been trailing the bus.  The second bus and other passing vehicles were attacked with an anti-tank weapon. An army vehicle was then blown up by a roadside bomb and another came under fire.
debkafile‘s military sources: This week the Egyptian army launched a major counter-terror operation against Islamists terrorizing the peninsula and its borderlands.
Whether he attackers came from Sinai or the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip has not been finally determined.