WarSclerotic

Report: Syrian army retakes all rebel positions in Latakia – Alarabiya.net English | Front Page.

The Syrian army has recaptured all rebel-held positions in Latakia, President Bashar al-Assad’s home province, state-run SANA news agency reported Monday quoting a military source.

“The army retook control of the Nabi Ashia mountain range and adjoining areas in the north of Latakia province,” the source said, of villages seized in early August by rebels trying to topple Assad.

On Sunday state television reported that the army had reclaimed rebel-held villages in the coastal province, hinterland of Assad’s minority Alawite community.

A Syrian security force, however, told AFP the army still had to recapture the Salma region, a strategic area along the border with Turkey that has been in rebel hands since the end of last year.

Rebels positioned in remote enclaves in Latakia’s mountains launched the “battle for the liberation of the Syrian coast” about two weeks ago.

They quickly captured a dozen Alawite villages near Qordaha, home town of Assad’s later father and long-time president Hafez al-Assad.

Rebel Free Syrian Army chief of staff Selim Idriss on August 11 toured one of the towns captured by the rebels, in a morale-boosting visit for the fighters.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the “army has made progress” in Latakia province, but could not confirm that it had recaptured all the villages seized by the rebels.

The Britain-based Observatory said that rebel fighters on Sunday shot down a military plane over Salma.

“The pilot bailed out but was later captured, most likely by insurgents,” said the watchdog which relies on a wide network of militants, medics and military sources on the ground.

Saudi Arabia says Arabs ready to cover cuts in Western aid to Egypt – Alarabiya.net English | Front Page.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Monday that Arab and Islamic nations will step in to help Egypt if Western countries cut their financial aid to Cairo over the a crackdown on Islamist loyalists of ousted President Mohammad Mursi.

“To those who have announced they are cutting their aid to Egypt, or threatening to do that, (we say that) Arab and Muslim nations are rich… and will not hesitate to help Egypt,” al-Faisal said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency.

He was speaking upon his return from France, where he held talks with President Francois Hollande, who strongly condemned violence in Egypt.

Prince al-Faisal criticized Western condemnations of Egypt’s security crackdown against Islamists saying Egypt is fighting terrorism.

“All countries that take such negative attitudes toward Egypt should know that the blaze and ruin will not be limited to Egypt alone, but they will be reflected on all those who have contributed or stood by problems and disorders taking place in Egypt today,” Prince al-Faisal said.

“We will not consider those who ignore these facts and drift behind the flimsy propaganda and lies as a good faith or ignorance, but we will consider them as hostile attitudes against the interests of the Arab and Islamic nations and their stability,” Prince al-Faisal added.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the North African country since security forces began a clampdown on Muslim Brotherhood protests last week.

U.S. Senator John McCain called on Washington to suspend its $1.3 billion in annual aid to Egypt’s military after it overthrew Islamist President Mursi on July 3.

But some U.S. lawmakers have expressed concern that cutting off aid could endanger the peace treaty with Israel or compromise U.S. privileges with regard to the Suez Canal.

Foreign ministers of the European Union are to hold emergency talks on Wednesday to review the bloc’s relations with Cairo.

At stake is nearly five billion euros ($6.7 billion) in loans and grants promised by the world’s top aid donor to Egypt for 2012-2013. It includes one billion euros from the EU with the rest from European banks the EIB and EBRD, AFP reported.

Murdered in Cold Blood – Middle East – News – Israel National News.

Aftermath of attack on Egyptian security forces, Aug. 19

Reuters

The picture shows rows of men lying, face-down in the dirt, wrists bound, some already in body bags as investigators clear up the scene. All are dead.

The gruesome scene has been circulating among various media outlets, apparently showing the aftermath of an attack which killed 25 Egyptian soldiers. The attack took place this morning in northern Sinai, on the highway to the city of Rafah.

Egyptian forces are carrying out an operation to root out Islamist terrorists based in the Sinai Peninsula who have escalated their attacks against Egyptian security forces and civilians since the ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in June. Terrorists have also engaged in sporadic attacks against Israel in recent weeks, including a rocket attack on the southern Israeli city of Eilat.

Initial reports alleged the soldiers had been ordered out of the buses they were travelling in by armed Islamists, forced to lie on the ground and shot at point-blank range. Those claims could not be verified at the time, but in the last few hours Egyptian activists have been circulating a photo of a document, purported to be a report from an ambulance worker at the scene of the attack, which appears to corroborate that version of events.

The Arabic document shows the causes of death of each of the victims, as “a shot in the back and another in the head,” according to activists.

It is the latest deadly attack against Egyptian security forces since the Egyptian military crackdown on Sinai-based terrorists began last month.

On Thursday, terrorists in the Sinai peninsula killed seven Egyptian soldiers in an attack on a checkpoint, security officials said. Gunmen in two cars attacked the soldiers in their tents at a checkpoint near a police station in the northern town of El-Arish, the officials said.

But what makes this latest attack all the more chilling is that it involves the apparently cold-blooded murder of unarmed captives.

Meanwhile, bloody clashes between supporters of Morsi and security forces continue in central Egypt, as at least 36 Islamist prisoners have died in during an apparent attempt to escape during their transfer to a prison outside Cairo.

The Egyptian interior ministry gave conflicting accounts of the deaths, initially saying the men died from gunfire during an attack by unidentified gunmen.

The Muslim Brotherhood described that incident as “cold-blooded killing,” as the war of words – and for the hearts and minds of international audiences – rages with equal fury.

Israel quietly maintains ties with Egyptian army | The Times of Israel.

Fearing that Cairo’s escalating crisis could weaken the fight against Sinai terror, Jerusalem in delicate position despite improved military ties

Friday, August 16, Egyptian Army soldiers stand guard outside the Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, in the center of the largest protest camp of supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi, that was cleared by security forces, in the district of Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt. (photo credit: AP/Hassan Ammar)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is quietly and carefully watching the turmoil in neighboring Egypt while maintaining close contacts with the Egyptian military amid concerns that the escalating crisis could weaken their common battle against Islamic militants in the Sinai Peninsula, officials said.

As the week’s death toll in Egypt rises, this alliance has put Israel in a delicate position. Wary of being seen as taking sides in the Egyptian military’s standoff against Islamist supporters of the ousted president, Israel also needs the Egyptian army to maintain quiet along their shared border — and to preserve a historic peace treaty.

The 1979 peace treaty, Israel’s first with an Arab country, has been a cornerstone of regional security for three decades. It has allowed Israel to divert resources to volatile fronts with Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. For Egypt, it opened the way to billions of dollars in US military aid.

Although diplomatic relations have never been close, the two militaries have had a good working relationship. These ties have only strengthened since longtime President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising two and a half years ago. With both armies battling extremist Jihadi groups in the Sinai Peninsula, near the Israeli border, Israeli security officials often say that relations with their Egyptian counterparts are stronger than ever.

With so much at stake, Israel has remained quiet since the Egyptian military ousted Mubarak’s Islamist successor, Mohammed Morsi, in a coup on July 3. Morsi, who became Egypt’s first democratically elected president, hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group considered the parent organization of militant Palestinian Hamas that rules the Gaza Strip and is a bitter enemy of Israel.

Israel has not commented on this week’s bloodshed, in which the Egyptian troops killed hundreds of Morsi’s supporters who were rallying against the coup and demanding that he be reinstated.

“Israel does not have to support the (Egyptian) regime, especially not publicly. It is not our place to defend all the measures taken, this is not our business,” said Giora Eiland, a former chairman of Israel’s National Security Council.

At the same time, Eiland suggested that international condemnations of the Egyptian military’s actions have been excessive. He said Israeli and Western interests are “much closer” to the interests of Egypt’s military leader, Gen. Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi and his secular allies.

“Even if we don’t share the same values, we can share the same interests,” he said. “The Israeli interest is quite clear. We want a stable regime in Egypt.”

“In the end of the day, the US has to realize the real potential, reliable partner is the combination of the coalition of secular people in Egypt and the current military regime,” he added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declined comment but Israeli defense officials confirmed to The Associated Press that security cooperation with Egypt has continued over the past week.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were discussing classified information, said the topic was discussed last week with the visiting chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of State, Gen. Martin Dempsey. They refused to discuss the content of the discussions.

The Israeli and Egyptian armies have worked closely in recent years to contain the common threat posed by al-Qaeda-linked groups operating in Sinai. These groups have stepped up their activities since Mubarak was toppled, and even more so since Morsi was deposed.

In the latest attack, militants ambushed and killed 25 Egyptian policemen on Monday on a road in northern Sinai, Egyptian officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to the media. The militants forced two vehicles carrying policemen on leave to stop, ordered the men out and made them lie on the ground before they shot them to death, the officials said.

Early this month, Israel briefly closed its airport in the Red Sea resort town of Eilat, next to the border with Sinai, in response to unspecified security warnings. The following day, five men believed to be Islamic militants were killed in what Egyptian security officials told the AP in Cairo was an Israeli drone attack. The site of the strike was about five kilometers (three miles) inside Egypt. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief journalists.

Israel has maintained official silence about the strike, likely out of concerns about exposing Egypt’s military to domestic public backlash over a strike on Egyptian soil. Egypt’s government celebrates its battles fought against Israel over Sinai and despite the 1979 peace deal, many in Egypt still view the Jewish state with suspicion.

A week after the suspected drone strike, Israel intercepted an incoming rocket fired from Sinai at Eilat. An al-Qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility for the rocket attack.

Under the terms of the peace accord, Egypt must coordinate its military operations in northern Sinai with Israel. The Israelis are believed to have granted every request by Egypt to bring additional forces into the region, as long as all operations were closely coordinated. An international force helps monitor the terms of the treaty.

Israeli lawmaker Shaul Mofaz, a former defense minister and military chief of staff, said it was essential that peace and order be restored in Egypt.

“The issue of the peace treaty with Egypt is Israel’s highest interest. As long as the violence, and the confrontation between the army and the civilians and the bloodshed there increases, it endangers the peace treaty. We have an interest that life there is quiet,” he told Channel 2 TV.

The US and European Union have criticized Egypt’s crackdown on Morsi’s supporters.

President Barack Obama has suspended a planned military exercise with Egypt, and US Sen. John McCain has led a chorus of voices urging a halt in the $1.3 billion in military aid the US sends to Egypt each year.

“For us to sit by and watch this happen is a violation of everything that we stood for,” the Republican senator told CNN. “We’re not sticking with our values.”

Obama has not made a decision. But suggestions like McCain’s have raised concerns in Israel that tough US action could shake the alliance with Egypt — and even prompt Egypt to retaliate against Israel.

“The Israeli and Egyptian security establishments are operating inside a bubble and, for the time being, there are no signs that relations between them have cooled,” wrote Alex Fishman, a military affairs commentator for the Yediot Ahronot daily. “But the Egyptian street is beginning to press, and the current regime is going to have to toss it a bone. Regrettably, it is going to be an Israeli bone it tosses.”

Israeli officials say the peace accord remains intact, and dismiss speculation that it could be threatened.

Eli Shaked, a former Israeli ambassador in Egypt, told the AP the scenario of the Camp David accords unraveling was highly unlikely. He said it was highly doubtful the United States would cut off aid to Egypt and even if it did, he could not envision Egypt canceling the peace treaty.

“They have no interest in engaging in another conflict they have neither the time nor the energy for,” he said. “They need us now, with or without American aid.”

Later Monday, Israel issued a new travel warning for Sinai, urging its citizens to “refrain from visiting” the peninsula and to “leave the area immediately.”

The Sinai desert, with its pastoral coast, is a favorite vacation spot for Israelis.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

For Egyptian forces, setbacks will only bring more resolve | The Times of Israel.

( I have to say that it’s a real pleasure to root FOR the Egyptian soldier rather than having to fight him in battle.  I hope they know that among the West, Israel is their strongest supporter. – JW )

The killing of 25 policemen in the Sinai will likely spur Cairo to redouble its efforts against terror, much like Israel did after losing 13 soldiers in a 2002 West Bank operation

An Egyptian army soldier takes his position on top of an armored vehicle while guarding an entrance to Tahrir Square in Cairo on Friday, August 16. (photo credit: AP/Hassan Ammar)

The terror attack in the Sinai Peninsula Monday morning, which left 25 Egyptian policemen dead, dealt a somewhat serious blow to the Egyptian army’s morale.

Its honor has been tarnished, and every Egyptian soldier that arrives in the heated-up Sinai area now knows just how much danger his life is in.

However, in the long term, no matter how cynical it sounds, the attack will likely be used by the authorities in Cairo to prove to the Egyptian public, and the international community, of the depth of the challenge the army is facing today in Sinai.

Since the ousting of Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood regime, there has been an increase in the number of attacks on soldiers of the Egyptian army in the peninsula, something that is not lost on the Egyptian public. Just last week — in the space of 48 hours — 17 members of the Egyptian security forces were killed.

That is a real terrorist threat that was most clearly demonstrated Monday morning, and it will be used by the regime to tie the Muslim Brotherhood to terrorists who apparently executed all of the 25 Egyptian soldiers, even after they had overpowered them.

Rather than sap the army of the will to fight, though, they may actually be more motivated to defeat their enemies in the Sinai, much as Israel rebounded from the deaths of 13 reservists during 2002′s Operation Defensive Shield during the Jenin “massacre” that never was.

In that case, the IDF responded to the deaths by redoubling its resolve and sending in even more forces to crush the terror stronghold in the West Bank refugee camp during the height of the Second Intifada.

Just like Israel, it can likewise be assumed that the Egyptian army will increase its forces in the Sinai and in many ways, will takes its gloves off.

A senior official in the Egyptian security apparatus explained not so long ago, in a private conversation, that one of the most difficult problems for the army to deal with in the Sinai is where to operate.

It is no secret that armed elements in the Sinai are clustered around two centers: the central mountainous region, which provides plenty of hiding places for the Jihadists; and the northeast region, an area that is relatively highly crowded, in cities like Rafah, el-Arish, and Sheikh Zweid.

The location of this morning’s attack near the border town of Rafah is not coincidental. It is the same area where 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed by terrorists, who then tried to storm the Israeli border.

The area is problematic for the army, since Jihadists can easily conceal themselves among the local population, who, in most cases, help and support them.

The Bedouin living in those towns have, over the years, became more religious, and more and more on the side of the Palestinians who always viewed the Egyptian army as unfriendly. It can be assumed that the Jihadists in the area are in contact with the population on the other side of the border in Gaza, hence the army’s decision to once again close the Rafah crossing.

At the end of the day, the Egyptian army operating in Sinai doesn’t have many choices. It needs to crush the Jihadists, even if that means sending more forces to the peninsula at the price of more soldiers’ lives. The army has superior numbers with superior arms, but victory over terror there won’t come quickly, exactly like Operation Defensive Shield didn’t end West Bank terror.

It was only a beginning and, likewise, so is the current Egyptian military campaign.

Activists inspired by ouster of Morsi launch campaign to overthrow Hamas in Gaza | JPost | Israel News.

( שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה- JW)

Diplomats: Iran may be limiting nuclear stockpile, staying below ‘red line’ | JPost | Israel News.

Ben-Eliezer: Sisi is preventing Egypt from turning into Iran | JPost | Israel News.

Israel Hayom | Putting the Islamist genie back in the bottle.

Prof. Eyal Zisser

Israeli officials: Iran talks do only one thing – give Tehran more time | JPost | Israel News.