17 aug 2013
Hamas movement stressed that it will not accept that any party in the Gaza Strip interferes in the Egyptian internal affairs. The movement spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement on Saturday "Hamas wasn't and will never be involved in Egypt's internal affairs."
Hamas has recently published a number of documents that exposes the role of Fatah movement in inciting against the Gaza Strip and the Palestinians, and distorting the image of the Palestinian resistance.
Meanwhile, Arab diplomatic sources in Cairo warned of plans hatched by the PA, some regional and international parties and Israel to crack down on the Gaza Strip, and of the PA's intentions to take unilateral action on the Palestinian arena.
The sources told Quds Press that this scheme aims to isolate Hamas politically and distract the attention away from the negotiation process between Fatah and Israel.
They added that a part of this scheme is represented in escalating the media campaign against Gaza, carrying out mass arrests in the West Bank against Hamas affiliates, and supporting and encouraging campaigns on Facebook inciting against Hamas movement.
In Gaza, Hamas official sources confirmed that these plans will not succeed in achieving their objectives, and warned Fatah of "committing follies against members of Hamas in the West Bank".
Hamas has recently published a number of documents that exposes the role of Fatah movement in inciting against the Gaza Strip and the Palestinians, and distorting the image of the Palestinian resistance.
Meanwhile, Arab diplomatic sources in Cairo warned of plans hatched by the PA, some regional and international parties and Israel to crack down on the Gaza Strip, and of the PA's intentions to take unilateral action on the Palestinian arena.
The sources told Quds Press that this scheme aims to isolate Hamas politically and distract the attention away from the negotiation process between Fatah and Israel.
They added that a part of this scheme is represented in escalating the media campaign against Gaza, carrying out mass arrests in the West Bank against Hamas affiliates, and supporting and encouraging campaigns on Facebook inciting against Hamas movement.
In Gaza, Hamas official sources confirmed that these plans will not succeed in achieving their objectives, and warned Fatah of "committing follies against members of Hamas in the West Bank".
Report: 300,000 Egyptians sign petition to annul peace with Israel
The Egyptian Tamarood movement, which led the protest against ousted President Mohamed Morsi, launched a petition calling on the Cairo administration to refuse American aid and annul the peace agreement with Israel.
According to the movement's website, the reason for the move is "the US's gross intervention in Egypt and its support for terror groups." According to Tamarood, some 300,000 people have already signed the petition.
The Egyptian Tamarood movement, which led the protest against ousted President Mohamed Morsi, launched a petition calling on the Cairo administration to refuse American aid and annul the peace agreement with Israel.
According to the movement's website, the reason for the move is "the US's gross intervention in Egypt and its support for terror groups." According to Tamarood, some 300,000 people have already signed the petition.
Scores of Palestinian citizens went on marches in the Gaza Strip in protest at the killing of pro-Morsi protestors in Cairo. The marches were organized at the invitation of facebook youth groups in Gaza.
Outside Al-Awda Mosque in Jabaliya refugee camp, tens of thousands of Palestinian young men rallied and marched in procession, carrying pictures of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and chanting slogans against the Egyptian police and army.
The participants also held Palestinian and Egyptian flags to reflect the Palestinian support for the Egyptian people's steadfastness in the face of aggression and injustice inflicted on them.
Youth activist Ahmed Salah, one of the organizers, stated that what has happened in Egypt went beyond all limits and human values, and made it impossible to believe that such army and police belong to Egypt.
Salah also described members of the Egyptian army and police as "murderers and thugs" who must be held accountable for their crimes.
Dozens of Palestinian young men also participated in a rally staged in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza in protest at the massacres that had been committed by the military coup leaders against the supporters of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.
Outside Al-Awda Mosque in Jabaliya refugee camp, tens of thousands of Palestinian young men rallied and marched in procession, carrying pictures of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and chanting slogans against the Egyptian police and army.
The participants also held Palestinian and Egyptian flags to reflect the Palestinian support for the Egyptian people's steadfastness in the face of aggression and injustice inflicted on them.
Youth activist Ahmed Salah, one of the organizers, stated that what has happened in Egypt went beyond all limits and human values, and made it impossible to believe that such army and police belong to Egypt.
Salah also described members of the Egyptian army and police as "murderers and thugs" who must be held accountable for their crimes.
Dozens of Palestinian young men also participated in a rally staged in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza in protest at the massacres that had been committed by the military coup leaders against the supporters of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.
Palestinian Authority security apparatuses on Friday attacked a peaceful march in al-Khalil, south of the West Bank, condemning the massacres in Egypt. Some citizens were injured while others were arrested. Eyewitnesses said riot control elements suppressed a peaceful demonstration launched after Friday prayers from Al-Hussein Bin Ali Mosque towards the roundabout of Ibn Roshd in al-Khalil, and arrested a number of marchers.
A number of Fatah leaders supported the attack by the Egyptian army on the supporters of President Mohamed Morsi in Rabaa El Adaweya and the Nahda Squares in Egypt.
For its part, the Palestinian media forum condemned the attack by Palestinian security forces on journalists and preventing them from filming the peaceful march, and demanded the prosecution of those involved in these attacks.
Meanwhile, the Preventive Security Service (PSS) in Jenin arrested after Friday prayers Sheikh Ali Abdul Qadir Atiq, aged 54, the preacher of the grand mosque of Burqin and the former mayor of Jenin, on the background of the Friday sermon in which he criticized "the blind murder in Egypt."
Local sources told PIC's correspondent that the PSS summoned Sheikh Atiq after Friday prayers and that upon his arrival to the Preventive Security headquarters he was informed that he will be arrested for commenting on the Egyptian situation during the sermon.
Sheikh Ali Atiq is one of the prominent leaders of the Islamic movement and a liberated prisoner from the Israeli occupation jails.
A number of Fatah leaders supported the attack by the Egyptian army on the supporters of President Mohamed Morsi in Rabaa El Adaweya and the Nahda Squares in Egypt.
For its part, the Palestinian media forum condemned the attack by Palestinian security forces on journalists and preventing them from filming the peaceful march, and demanded the prosecution of those involved in these attacks.
Meanwhile, the Preventive Security Service (PSS) in Jenin arrested after Friday prayers Sheikh Ali Abdul Qadir Atiq, aged 54, the preacher of the grand mosque of Burqin and the former mayor of Jenin, on the background of the Friday sermon in which he criticized "the blind murder in Egypt."
Local sources told PIC's correspondent that the PSS summoned Sheikh Atiq after Friday prayers and that upon his arrival to the Preventive Security headquarters he was informed that he will be arrested for commenting on the Egyptian situation during the sermon.
Sheikh Ali Atiq is one of the prominent leaders of the Islamic movement and a liberated prisoner from the Israeli occupation jails.
The Palestinian leadership said Friday in a statement that harming the Egyptian security will also harm the Arab national security and its fundamental cause. “The Palestinian leadership and people are closely following the developments in Egypt,” said the statement. “They consider any attempt to harm the Egyptian security is an attempt to harm the Arab and Islamic national security and a threat to the Palestinian cause,” it added.
“The Egyptian security is the safety valve of the Arab national security and the unruly hands that are trying to jeopardize the Egyptian state and to harm its security and the stability of the Egyptian people are serving a dubious scheme aimed at the unity of Egypt and the security and stability of all Arab countries,” added the statement.
The Palestinian leadership welcomed the position of Saudi Arabia and its king from the Egyptian crisis and called on “everyone to support Egypt and to oppose any interference in its internal affairs.”
It said, “We also reject terrorism aimed at the public institutions and places of worship.”
The statement concluded: “We are confident that Egypt will overcome this stage and return to play its focal role for the sake of Arab causes, particularly the Palestinian cause.”
“The Egyptian security is the safety valve of the Arab national security and the unruly hands that are trying to jeopardize the Egyptian state and to harm its security and the stability of the Egyptian people are serving a dubious scheme aimed at the unity of Egypt and the security and stability of all Arab countries,” added the statement.
The Palestinian leadership welcomed the position of Saudi Arabia and its king from the Egyptian crisis and called on “everyone to support Egypt and to oppose any interference in its internal affairs.”
It said, “We also reject terrorism aimed at the public institutions and places of worship.”
The statement concluded: “We are confident that Egypt will overcome this stage and return to play its focal role for the sake of Arab causes, particularly the Palestinian cause.”
Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya reiterated on Friday that neither Hamas nor the Gaza Strip has any kind of a military or security role in Egypt, Rafah or Sinai. "Our ties with Egypt are only the bonds of goodness, Islam, thought, strategic work and brotherhood. Our military and security role is here on the land of Palestine and we work only against the Zionist occupation," Haneyya, who also holds the post of deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, stated in his khutba (sermon) yesterday.
"Yes, there are educational and intellectual links, we are proud of and do not deny, with the Muslim Brotherhood school, but this relationship does not allow us to interfere in the internal affairs of Egypt and the other countries," Haneyya underlined.
"The Muslim Brotherhood is based in more than 70 countries around the world, and we have to invest its [global] presence in the support of the Palestinian cause without interfering in the internal conflicts of the countries," the premier added.
The premier also criticized the accusation leveled against the kidnapped Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi about his communications with Hamas and described it as unrealistic.
"This claim is against the reality, the norms, the brotherhood and the ties we have with our brothers in Egypt. The Palestinian resistance with all its factions, especially Hamas, has open relations with many countries, meets with officials and non-officials and does not interfere in the internal Arab affairs."
"Hamas and the resistance factions have relations with Egypt before the coming of president Morsi, and we started 25 years ago this relationship with the security and political leadership, forces and parties in Egypt and since then we have had a transparent relationship with them," Haneyya elaborated.
"Yes, there are educational and intellectual links, we are proud of and do not deny, with the Muslim Brotherhood school, but this relationship does not allow us to interfere in the internal affairs of Egypt and the other countries," Haneyya underlined.
"The Muslim Brotherhood is based in more than 70 countries around the world, and we have to invest its [global] presence in the support of the Palestinian cause without interfering in the internal conflicts of the countries," the premier added.
The premier also criticized the accusation leveled against the kidnapped Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi about his communications with Hamas and described it as unrealistic.
"This claim is against the reality, the norms, the brotherhood and the ties we have with our brothers in Egypt. The Palestinian resistance with all its factions, especially Hamas, has open relations with many countries, meets with officials and non-officials and does not interfere in the internal Arab affairs."
"Hamas and the resistance factions have relations with Egypt before the coming of president Morsi, and we started 25 years ago this relationship with the security and political leadership, forces and parties in Egypt and since then we have had a transparent relationship with them," Haneyya elaborated.
The Egyptian authorities retained the Rafah border terminal between Sinai and Gaza Strip closed for the third day running. Those authorities attributed the closure to the continued security disturbances in various areas of Egypt especially in northern Sinai.
The Egyptian authorities had suddenly declared the indefinite closure of the crossing on Thursday in both directions.
The Egyptian authorities had suddenly declared the indefinite closure of the crossing on Thursday in both directions.
Dr. Ahmed Bahar, first deputy speaker of the Palestinian legislative council, has charged that what was happening in Egypt was in fact a Zio-American plot to weaken Egypt and its army. He told a press conference in solidarity with the Egyptian people on Thursday night that the plot aims at turning Egypt into a weak regional power.
Bahar condemned the “brutal massacre” in which innocent people were butchered (in the Egyptian security’s violent dispersal of peaceful sit-ins) in violation of all humanitarian laws and considerations.
He said that Israel was the only one benefitting from weakening Egypt, adding that Israel was seeking to strip Egypt of its pioneering role in the region.
The deputy speaker urged all components of the Egyptian people to pursue and adopt democracy as a strategic option in which peoples choose their representatives and leaders.
Bahar asked the UN, the Arab League, and the OIC to immediately intervene to stop the bloodshed in Egypt and solve its crisis.
Bahar condemned the “brutal massacre” in which innocent people were butchered (in the Egyptian security’s violent dispersal of peaceful sit-ins) in violation of all humanitarian laws and considerations.
He said that Israel was the only one benefitting from weakening Egypt, adding that Israel was seeking to strip Egypt of its pioneering role in the region.
The deputy speaker urged all components of the Egyptian people to pursue and adopt democracy as a strategic option in which peoples choose their representatives and leaders.
Bahar asked the UN, the Arab League, and the OIC to immediately intervene to stop the bloodshed in Egypt and solve its crisis.
16 aug 2013
to mind when considering what has been occurring in Egypt in recent days and weeks.
This is why Sisi and cohorts ought to be treated as war criminals, very much like Slobodan Milocivic, Vojislav Šešelj and Radovan Karadžic, to mention just a few names.
Failing to do justice for the victims and their families amounts to giving the murderers in Egypt a green light to commit further atrocities and spill more innocent blood in the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities.
More to the point, the international community should utterly disregard the plethora of lies being propagated by the Egyptian regime's mouthpieces. I am not going to even mention these obscene, big lies lest I inadvertently dignify them.
In the final analysis, nefarious murderers are also despicable liars par excellence. Indeed, how can we expect child killers and cutthroats who open fire at innocent people for the purpose of killing them to tell the truth? These animals must have stripped themselves of humanity long before they did what they did.
The fact that they murdered and maimed thousands in broad daylight and without any remorse or feeling of guilt underscores the bestial or subhuman nature of the murderers and those who gave them orders to open fire.
Feckless response
So far, the response of the international community toward the ongoing massacres in Egypt has been utterly inadequate, to put it rather mildly.
The western response has been quite tepid and confined to harmless verbal denunciations. This is probably due to historical western indifference to the shedding of Muslim blood in general.
After all, Islamists, and Muslims in general, are not and have never been the West's favorite allies. Indeed, it would be sufficiently safe to argue that the West has always viewed Muslims as cultural and ideological opponents rather than friends or potential friends. Hence, it would be really naïve to think that Muslim lives are much of a concern to Western powers.
Just compare these ignominious western reactions to the massacres in Egypt with the strong condemnation to recent deaths of a few protesters in Turkey, or in Iran a few years ago, and you will detect the shocking western hypocrisy and moral duplicity.
In fact, one can go as far as saying that the utter fecklessness of the Western response to what is happening in Egypt represents a kind of tacit encouragement to the criminal government and coup makers in Cairo to commit further crimes against humanity.
Sisi and his murderous gang must have been carefully watching the shocking weakness of the international community response to the Nazi-like crimes of the Syrian regime, which has been tantamount to tolerating these crimes.
This sterile international reaction to the Syrian genocide must have made Egypt's nefarious dictator calculate that he could make rivers of blood flow through Egypt with total impunity.
Sisi must have rationalized that if Bashar el-Assad of Syria could destroy his own country and murder at least 100,000 Syrians. with total impunity, why couldn't he (Sisi) slaughter a few thousand Egyptians, also with total impunity?
There is no doubt that Sisi and cohorts will eventually be consigned to the dustbin of history in the company of notorious criminals and evil murderous dictators. But this is not the main question facing us now. The real question confronting every man's conscience now is the shocking flaccidity and leniency characterizing the western response to the ongoing massacres in Egypt.
The west is not that powerless as its manifestly impotent response would suggest. Egypt is effectively a beggar nation, thanks to decades of military dictatorships, and can hardly survive without Western handouts. The Egyptian army, which is being utilized to murder its own sons and daughters, can barley survive without American aid and remain a force to be reckoned with, especially at the regional level.
In any case, the US Administration should be made to understand in case it has forgotten that the very wherewithal with which the 2500 Egyptians were killed and other thousands maimed and injured since Wednesday was supplied by the U.S.
Hence, failure to criminalize Sisi and cohorts must be interpreted as definitive complicity in the hideous carnage now being played out in Egypt.
The Egyptian people will not forgive Washington and London and other Western capitals their indecisive stance vis-à-vis the Nazi-like regime in Cairo.
Needless to say, one day this cowardly and immoral stance will boomerang on the Americans and Europeans.
Future Egyptian generations will learn that the Murderous Sisi regime wouldn't and couldn't have been able to commit these colossal crimes against his own people had it not been for tacit Western encouragement.
Certainly, the West could choose to do the morally right thing now by cutting all military and economic aid to the military junta and asking the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice in The Hague to declare Sisi and cohorts war criminals.
At the very least, such pro-active measures should make Sisi and cohorts think twice before committing further atrocities against the Egyptian people.
This is why Sisi and cohorts ought to be treated as war criminals, very much like Slobodan Milocivic, Vojislav Šešelj and Radovan Karadžic, to mention just a few names.
Failing to do justice for the victims and their families amounts to giving the murderers in Egypt a green light to commit further atrocities and spill more innocent blood in the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities.
More to the point, the international community should utterly disregard the plethora of lies being propagated by the Egyptian regime's mouthpieces. I am not going to even mention these obscene, big lies lest I inadvertently dignify them.
In the final analysis, nefarious murderers are also despicable liars par excellence. Indeed, how can we expect child killers and cutthroats who open fire at innocent people for the purpose of killing them to tell the truth? These animals must have stripped themselves of humanity long before they did what they did.
The fact that they murdered and maimed thousands in broad daylight and without any remorse or feeling of guilt underscores the bestial or subhuman nature of the murderers and those who gave them orders to open fire.
Feckless response
So far, the response of the international community toward the ongoing massacres in Egypt has been utterly inadequate, to put it rather mildly.
The western response has been quite tepid and confined to harmless verbal denunciations. This is probably due to historical western indifference to the shedding of Muslim blood in general.
After all, Islamists, and Muslims in general, are not and have never been the West's favorite allies. Indeed, it would be sufficiently safe to argue that the West has always viewed Muslims as cultural and ideological opponents rather than friends or potential friends. Hence, it would be really naïve to think that Muslim lives are much of a concern to Western powers.
Just compare these ignominious western reactions to the massacres in Egypt with the strong condemnation to recent deaths of a few protesters in Turkey, or in Iran a few years ago, and you will detect the shocking western hypocrisy and moral duplicity.
In fact, one can go as far as saying that the utter fecklessness of the Western response to what is happening in Egypt represents a kind of tacit encouragement to the criminal government and coup makers in Cairo to commit further crimes against humanity.
Sisi and his murderous gang must have been carefully watching the shocking weakness of the international community response to the Nazi-like crimes of the Syrian regime, which has been tantamount to tolerating these crimes.
This sterile international reaction to the Syrian genocide must have made Egypt's nefarious dictator calculate that he could make rivers of blood flow through Egypt with total impunity.
Sisi must have rationalized that if Bashar el-Assad of Syria could destroy his own country and murder at least 100,000 Syrians. with total impunity, why couldn't he (Sisi) slaughter a few thousand Egyptians, also with total impunity?
There is no doubt that Sisi and cohorts will eventually be consigned to the dustbin of history in the company of notorious criminals and evil murderous dictators. But this is not the main question facing us now. The real question confronting every man's conscience now is the shocking flaccidity and leniency characterizing the western response to the ongoing massacres in Egypt.
The west is not that powerless as its manifestly impotent response would suggest. Egypt is effectively a beggar nation, thanks to decades of military dictatorships, and can hardly survive without Western handouts. The Egyptian army, which is being utilized to murder its own sons and daughters, can barley survive without American aid and remain a force to be reckoned with, especially at the regional level.
In any case, the US Administration should be made to understand in case it has forgotten that the very wherewithal with which the 2500 Egyptians were killed and other thousands maimed and injured since Wednesday was supplied by the U.S.
Hence, failure to criminalize Sisi and cohorts must be interpreted as definitive complicity in the hideous carnage now being played out in Egypt.
The Egyptian people will not forgive Washington and London and other Western capitals their indecisive stance vis-à-vis the Nazi-like regime in Cairo.
Needless to say, one day this cowardly and immoral stance will boomerang on the Americans and Europeans.
Future Egyptian generations will learn that the Murderous Sisi regime wouldn't and couldn't have been able to commit these colossal crimes against his own people had it not been for tacit Western encouragement.
Certainly, the West could choose to do the morally right thing now by cutting all military and economic aid to the military junta and asking the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice in The Hague to declare Sisi and cohorts war criminals.
At the very least, such pro-active measures should make Sisi and cohorts think twice before committing further atrocities against the Egyptian people.
Reuters
Millions of Morsi supporters to take to streets after Friday prayers, as Brotherhood vows to fight army forces. UN's Security Council urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint, says "It's important to end violence."
Deeply polarized Muslim Brotherhood called for a nationwide march of millions to show anger at a ferocious security
Related stories:
It was the third mass killing of Morsi supporters since his ouster. The assault left his Muslim Brotherhood in disarray, but they warned they would not retreat in their showdown with army commander General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
"After the blows and arrests and killings that we are facing, emotions are too high to be guided by anyone," said Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad.
"Despite the pain and sorrow over the loss of our martyrs, the latest coup makers' crime has increased our determination to end them," it said.
The Brotherhood accuses the military of staging a coup when it ousted Morsi. Liberal and youth activists who backed the military saw the move as a positive response to public demands.
Friday prayers have proved a fertile time for protests during more than two years of unrest across the Arab world.
A statement from the Brotherhood called for a nationwide "march of anger" by millions of supporters on Friday after noon prayers.
In calling for a "Friday of anger," the Brotherhood used the same name as that given to the most violent day of the 2011 uprising against former President Hosni
In a counter move, a loose liberal and leftist coalition, the National Salvation Front, called on Egyptians to protest on Friday against what it said was "obvious terrorism actions" conducted by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Signaling his displeasure at the worst bloodshed in Egypt for generations, US President Barack Obama said on Thursday normal cooperation with Cairo could not continue and announced the cancellation of military exercises with Egypt next month.
"We deplore violence against civilians. We support universal rights essential to human dignity, including the right to peaceful protest," he said, taking a brief break from his holidays to deliver the sharp rebuke.
The United States on Thursday renewed a warning to its citizens to leave Egypt because of the ongoing unrest. It issued the same advice last month.
The Egyptian presidency issued a statement saying Obama's remarks were not based on "facts" and would strengthen and encourage violent groups that were committing "terrorist acts."
Arab aid
Washington provides Egypt with $1.5 billion in annual aid, most of it military. But its influence over Cairo has been called into question during the recent turmoil, which has seen Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates pledge $12 billion in assistance, making them more prominent partners.
By cancelling the military exercise, but not cutting off US aid, Obama was seeking to show his displeasure at the violent crackdown without totally alienating the generals.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel issued a statement saying he had called Sisi on Thursday to say Washington would maintain its military relationship with Egypt, but he also warned him that the recent violence was putting defense cooperation at risk.
"Since the recent crisis began, the United States has made it clear that the Egyptian government must refrain from violence, respect freedom of assembly, and move toward an inclusive political transition," Hagel said.
"I reiterated that the United States remains ready to work with all parties to help achieve a peaceful, inclusive way forward."
The White House has tried to appear to support democracy in Egypt, while protecting the US strategic interest in Egypt's stability, its peace treaty with Israel and its military cooperation with the United States - including privileged access to the Suez Canal.
Critics argue that Obama had done too little, too late and that his administration has repeatedly sent mixed messages - among them its failure to brand Morsi's ouster a military coup - thereby eroding its ability to influence events.
By comparison with Western criticism, the UAE said Egypt's government had "exercised maximum self-control."
The Arab nations' cash, which started arriving in July, is aimed at stabilizing Egypt's wobbling economy, which is suffering from a ballooning budget deficit and high inflation.
This week's carnage will do further damage to state coffers. The government has set a nighttime curfew that it says will last at least a month, a move that will deal a further blow to the crucial tourism industry.
UN urges restraint
On Thursday, the UN Security Council urged all parties in Egypt to exercise maximum restraint.
"The view of Council members is that it is important to end violence in Egypt," Argentine UN Ambassador Maria Cristina Perceval told reporters after the 15-member Council met on the situation.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had earlier also called for the UN Security Council to convene quickly after what he described as a massacre in Egypt and criticized Western nations for failing to stop the bloodshed.
The streets of Cairo were unusually quiet on Thursday, many shops remaining shuttered as people stayed away from work.
However, there was little sympathy for the Brotherhood, which won all five elections following Mubarak's downfall in 2011 but was accused of incompetence and partisanship during Morsi's brief time in charge.
"We didn't want this to happen, but at the end of the day they pushed us to do it," said Mahmoud Albaz, 33, an actor and real-estate agent who lives near the Brotherhood protest camp at the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, now blackened by fire and soot.
Many of those who died on Wednesday were still laid out more than a day later in Cairo morgues and at a city mosque. Their families accused the government of putting bureaucratic hurdles in their way to make it hard to obtain permission to bury them.
Under Islamic tradition, bodies ought to be buried within 24 hours of death.
"We arrived at 7 am The whole family is here," said Atif Hashim, a 50-year-old teacher, who was in line, waiting to collect the body of his cousin, a father of five young children.
"They just drink tea inside, they just throw the bodies on the floor with some ice," he said of officials in the morgue.
Millions of Morsi supporters to take to streets after Friday prayers, as Brotherhood vows to fight army forces. UN's Security Council urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint, says "It's important to end violence."
Deeply polarized Muslim Brotherhood called for a nationwide march of millions to show anger at a ferocious security
Related stories:
It was the third mass killing of Morsi supporters since his ouster. The assault left his Muslim Brotherhood in disarray, but they warned they would not retreat in their showdown with army commander General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
"After the blows and arrests and killings that we are facing, emotions are too high to be guided by anyone," said Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad.
"Despite the pain and sorrow over the loss of our martyrs, the latest coup makers' crime has increased our determination to end them," it said.
The Brotherhood accuses the military of staging a coup when it ousted Morsi. Liberal and youth activists who backed the military saw the move as a positive response to public demands.
Friday prayers have proved a fertile time for protests during more than two years of unrest across the Arab world.
A statement from the Brotherhood called for a nationwide "march of anger" by millions of supporters on Friday after noon prayers.
In calling for a "Friday of anger," the Brotherhood used the same name as that given to the most violent day of the 2011 uprising against former President Hosni
In a counter move, a loose liberal and leftist coalition, the National Salvation Front, called on Egyptians to protest on Friday against what it said was "obvious terrorism actions" conducted by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Signaling his displeasure at the worst bloodshed in Egypt for generations, US President Barack Obama said on Thursday normal cooperation with Cairo could not continue and announced the cancellation of military exercises with Egypt next month.
"We deplore violence against civilians. We support universal rights essential to human dignity, including the right to peaceful protest," he said, taking a brief break from his holidays to deliver the sharp rebuke.
The United States on Thursday renewed a warning to its citizens to leave Egypt because of the ongoing unrest. It issued the same advice last month.
The Egyptian presidency issued a statement saying Obama's remarks were not based on "facts" and would strengthen and encourage violent groups that were committing "terrorist acts."
Arab aid
Washington provides Egypt with $1.5 billion in annual aid, most of it military. But its influence over Cairo has been called into question during the recent turmoil, which has seen Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates pledge $12 billion in assistance, making them more prominent partners.
By cancelling the military exercise, but not cutting off US aid, Obama was seeking to show his displeasure at the violent crackdown without totally alienating the generals.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel issued a statement saying he had called Sisi on Thursday to say Washington would maintain its military relationship with Egypt, but he also warned him that the recent violence was putting defense cooperation at risk.
"Since the recent crisis began, the United States has made it clear that the Egyptian government must refrain from violence, respect freedom of assembly, and move toward an inclusive political transition," Hagel said.
"I reiterated that the United States remains ready to work with all parties to help achieve a peaceful, inclusive way forward."
The White House has tried to appear to support democracy in Egypt, while protecting the US strategic interest in Egypt's stability, its peace treaty with Israel and its military cooperation with the United States - including privileged access to the Suez Canal.
Critics argue that Obama had done too little, too late and that his administration has repeatedly sent mixed messages - among them its failure to brand Morsi's ouster a military coup - thereby eroding its ability to influence events.
By comparison with Western criticism, the UAE said Egypt's government had "exercised maximum self-control."
The Arab nations' cash, which started arriving in July, is aimed at stabilizing Egypt's wobbling economy, which is suffering from a ballooning budget deficit and high inflation.
This week's carnage will do further damage to state coffers. The government has set a nighttime curfew that it says will last at least a month, a move that will deal a further blow to the crucial tourism industry.
UN urges restraint
On Thursday, the UN Security Council urged all parties in Egypt to exercise maximum restraint.
"The view of Council members is that it is important to end violence in Egypt," Argentine UN Ambassador Maria Cristina Perceval told reporters after the 15-member Council met on the situation.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had earlier also called for the UN Security Council to convene quickly after what he described as a massacre in Egypt and criticized Western nations for failing to stop the bloodshed.
The streets of Cairo were unusually quiet on Thursday, many shops remaining shuttered as people stayed away from work.
However, there was little sympathy for the Brotherhood, which won all five elections following Mubarak's downfall in 2011 but was accused of incompetence and partisanship during Morsi's brief time in charge.
"We didn't want this to happen, but at the end of the day they pushed us to do it," said Mahmoud Albaz, 33, an actor and real-estate agent who lives near the Brotherhood protest camp at the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, now blackened by fire and soot.
Many of those who died on Wednesday were still laid out more than a day later in Cairo morgues and at a city mosque. Their families accused the government of putting bureaucratic hurdles in their way to make it hard to obtain permission to bury them.
Under Islamic tradition, bodies ought to be buried within 24 hours of death.
"We arrived at 7 am The whole family is here," said Atif Hashim, a 50-year-old teacher, who was in line, waiting to collect the body of his cousin, a father of five young children.
"They just drink tea inside, they just throw the bodies on the floor with some ice," he said of officials in the morgue.
15 aug 2013
The Palestinian government in Gaza stressed that the economic indicators threaten a disaster in the Strip during the third quarter of this year, due to the tightening of the siege and the closure of the tunnels. Hatem Owaida, Undersecretary of the Ministry of National Economy in Gaza, indicated that tightening the security measures on the Egyptian tunnels connecting the Gaza Strip and Egypt would lead to "a real catastrophe", adding that "closing the tunnels will directly affect the lives of citizens."
Owaida pointed out that the residents of Gaza resorted to the tunnels to bring their needs in light of the Israeli tightened procedures on the official crossings.
He said the tunnels help in importing part of the construction materials for the reconstruction of Gaza, noting that the Gaza Strip needs six thousand tons of gravel, four thousand tons of cement and three thousand and five hundred tons of iron per day. The tunnels could not provide such large quantities, but only a small percentage of them.
Owaida pointed out that the residents of Gaza resorted to the tunnels to bring their needs in light of the Israeli tightened procedures on the official crossings.
He said the tunnels help in importing part of the construction materials for the reconstruction of Gaza, noting that the Gaza Strip needs six thousand tons of gravel, four thousand tons of cement and three thousand and five hundred tons of iron per day. The tunnels could not provide such large quantities, but only a small percentage of them.
The Palestinian religious figures in the Gaza Strip staged a rally on Wednesday evening to condemn the massacres that were committed by the Egyptian army and the police during their raids on peaceful anti-coup sit-ins in Cairo. Sheikh Salem Salama, head of the association of Palestinian scholars in Gaza, held, in a speech during the protest, the Egyptian security forces fully responsible for the crimes that had been committed against Egyptian scholars and religious figures in sit-in areas.
Sheikh Salama strongly denounced the Egyptian media for igniting sedition and conflict among the Egyptian people and appealed to members of the Egyptian army to refrain from shedding the blood of their brothers and sisters.
He also slammed the attacks that were launched by the police and thugs on Mosques and churches.
Sheikh Salama strongly denounced the Egyptian media for igniting sedition and conflict among the Egyptian people and appealed to members of the Egyptian army to refrain from shedding the blood of their brothers and sisters.
He also slammed the attacks that were launched by the police and thugs on Mosques and churches.
Several corpses of protestors, especially children, were also taken away by the forces from the Rabaa field hospital in an attempt to hide the terrible scene of their carnage, according to eyewitnesses.
Al-Jazeera satellite channel quoted Yahya Makiya, director of the field hospital, as saying that policemen and army soldiers cordoned off the hospital with barbed wire, fired a hail of tear gas grenades and live bullets at the protestors before rounding up some of the wounded and medical personnel, and confiscating the bodies.
Makiya said that the Egyptian army and the police committed a genocide in Rabaa square and removed the charred bodies from the scene to cover up their crimes.
Al-Jazeera satellite channel quoted Yahya Makiya, director of the field hospital, as saying that policemen and army soldiers cordoned off the hospital with barbed wire, fired a hail of tear gas grenades and live bullets at the protestors before rounding up some of the wounded and medical personnel, and confiscating the bodies.
Makiya said that the Egyptian army and the police committed a genocide in Rabaa square and removed the charred bodies from the scene to cover up their crimes.
14 aug 2013
By Khalid Amayreh in Occupied Palestine
The recent bloody military coup in Egypt against the country's democratically-elected leadership has exposed the ideological and moral bankruptcy of the anti-Islamic camp in the Arab world.
Prior to the conspiratorial act of deposing Egypt first ever democratically elected president by a gang of ignorant military officers, in cooperation and coordination with a number of corrupt secular unprincipled politicians who, we all know, would have no real chances at the ballot boxes. Nasserist , leftist and liberal leaders in Egypt raised their voices like never before against alleged Islamist threats to civil liberties and the rule of law.
But their outcry was largely hypocritical and disingenuous. A combination of ideological hostility and political vindictiveness was the main motive behind these secular powers' gleeful backing of the bloody coup (bloody because thousands of innocent Egyptian citizens have been murdered or maimed by the criminal military establishment).
However, when the fascist features of the bloody coup became apparent, e.g. murdering innocent, unarmed protesters and closing down non-conformist media outlets, we saw that leaders and symbols of the anti-Islamist camp resorted to a mode of deadly silence.
To be honest, some of the secular leaders, such as Muhammed el Baradie, have voiced a modicum of anxiety at the receding prospects of democracy in Egypt. However, the fact that el-Baradie himself readily accepted to be part of a puppet government installed and controlled by the army speaks volumes, especially following the hideous massacres perpetrated by the murderous thugs and cutthroats of the Interior Ministry at the Republican headquarters and in the vicinity of the Rab'a Adawiya Mosque sit-in.
I really don't know how true liberalism can be reconciled with true fascism. Make no mistake about it, what is taking place in Egypt today is fascism par excellance. Otherwise, what would one call the sinister witch-hunting, flagrant incarceration and hounding of Islamist leaders whose only "crime" is their backing of the democratically elected president? Or the appointment of military figures as governors all over Egypt, which exposes the military establishment's desire to decapitate civilian political life in Egypt. Or the theatrical leveling of conspicuously concocted charges against Islamist figures?
Which really prompts us to wonder if what we are witnessing in Egypt is a resurrection of Augusto Pinochet, or even Benito Mussolini?
I am not particularly infatuated with Senator John McCain. However, the man did reveal a great deal of rectitude and intellectual honesty when he recently called the spade a spade in reference to the bloody coup by its real name.
" If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, it's a duck" The pornographically mendacious Egyptian media referred to McCain's remark as "clumsy." But there is really nothing clumsy about telling the truth, and, in any case, the man was telling the truth, a really scarce commodity in Egypt these days..
In truth, moral clumsiness belongs to those Egyptian politicians who readily accepted to play the role of the proverbial monkey for the army's organ grinder.
Unfortunately, words like "honesty" seem totally and conspicuously absent from the political lexicons of the secular establishment in Egypt. These people have long traditions of lying to the Egyptian people and the world. They know they are lying and have no regret about it. Lying is their daily stable and ultimate modus operandi, and they know it. This is how they have been running Egypt since 1952, which explains the ramshackle house that Egypt has been for decades.
The leftist camp in Egypt (and the Arab world) with its two wings, the Nasserites and Communists, have really been exposed naked by recent events. Hamdeen Sabbahi, the ostentatious leader of the so-called Public Current has proved himself to be a grand hypocrite and sleazy opportunist devoid of any moral principles.
He has just turned a blind eye to all the criminal violations perpetrated by the criminal junta, led by Sisi and cohorts.
I call him "hypocrite and opportunist" because he wouldn't have kept his mouth hermetically shut had President Mursi committed even a small fraction of what is occurring in Egypt today.
Sabbahi claims to be following the ideals of Gamal Abdul Nasser, the Arab world's mini-god who was largely responsible for the greatest Arab defeat in recent history, but eventually turned out to be a liar and imposter.
Sabbahi claims to a progressive revolutionary following Nasser 's style. However, we have noticed that he has not spoken a word against the ongoing treasonous military coordination between Israel and the Sisi junta.
Yes, the coup makers vehemently deny any coordination with Israel, claiming that it was an Egyptian helicopter gunship, not an armed Israeli drone that hit the so-called "Jihadists" in northern Sinai. But who would believe the Egyptian military, the very people who lie as often as they breathe the oxygen of life? Besides, since when Egypt could deploy offensive weapons in Sinai without a prior-Israeli permission?
Needless to say, Sabbahi's and other leftists' silence have proven - if a proof were needed in the first place- that these people have absolutely no moral credentials and that they are real enemies of democracy and freedom in Egypt.
Indeed, how else can we interpret their obvious infatuation with the bloody coup and the unlawful annulment of a democratically-voted constitution?
In light of the treacherous opportunism on the part of the leaders of the anti-Islamist camp in Egypt, we must call the spade a spade especially when that spade is seen in the hands of the Egyptian people's grave-diggers, and we are not speaking metaphorically.
We must proclaim aloud that these people are part of the problem facing the Egypt and can't really be part of the solution. They are anti-Islamic, despite the preponderance of vacuous sycophancy; they are really anti-democracy since they prove by word and act that they are against the verdict of the ballot box. And they must also be against the national interests of Egypt if only because military or military-backed dictatorships are the ultimate cancer that virulently corrodes through countries and societies, impeding their progress and prosperity.
As to the Islamists, they are not the impeccable angels some idealists would think they are. Never the less, at the very least, the Islamists have repeatedly proven that they practice what they preach.
This writer worked for some Egyptian media outlets for many years and have witnessed the pornographically unethical attacks on President Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood, like calling them "Nazis" and worse than Hitler.
None the less, Mursi never ordered the arrest of these hateful inciters and pathological liars who made no distinction between true freedom of speech and expression on the one hand and freedom to lie and incite to murder on the other..
Now, Mursi's liberal and leftist detractors are basking in their hypocrisy rather gleefully, watching the criminal junta strangle press freedom, arrest journalists and swell its jails and dungeons with political opponents.
Yes, silence towards the coup, which is really a colossal crime by any imaginable standard, denotes complicity and acquiescence to fascism, irrespective of the lies and empty claims, heard ad nauseam ever since Ahmed Said!
The recent bloody military coup in Egypt against the country's democratically-elected leadership has exposed the ideological and moral bankruptcy of the anti-Islamic camp in the Arab world.
Prior to the conspiratorial act of deposing Egypt first ever democratically elected president by a gang of ignorant military officers, in cooperation and coordination with a number of corrupt secular unprincipled politicians who, we all know, would have no real chances at the ballot boxes. Nasserist , leftist and liberal leaders in Egypt raised their voices like never before against alleged Islamist threats to civil liberties and the rule of law.
But their outcry was largely hypocritical and disingenuous. A combination of ideological hostility and political vindictiveness was the main motive behind these secular powers' gleeful backing of the bloody coup (bloody because thousands of innocent Egyptian citizens have been murdered or maimed by the criminal military establishment).
However, when the fascist features of the bloody coup became apparent, e.g. murdering innocent, unarmed protesters and closing down non-conformist media outlets, we saw that leaders and symbols of the anti-Islamist camp resorted to a mode of deadly silence.
To be honest, some of the secular leaders, such as Muhammed el Baradie, have voiced a modicum of anxiety at the receding prospects of democracy in Egypt. However, the fact that el-Baradie himself readily accepted to be part of a puppet government installed and controlled by the army speaks volumes, especially following the hideous massacres perpetrated by the murderous thugs and cutthroats of the Interior Ministry at the Republican headquarters and in the vicinity of the Rab'a Adawiya Mosque sit-in.
I really don't know how true liberalism can be reconciled with true fascism. Make no mistake about it, what is taking place in Egypt today is fascism par excellance. Otherwise, what would one call the sinister witch-hunting, flagrant incarceration and hounding of Islamist leaders whose only "crime" is their backing of the democratically elected president? Or the appointment of military figures as governors all over Egypt, which exposes the military establishment's desire to decapitate civilian political life in Egypt. Or the theatrical leveling of conspicuously concocted charges against Islamist figures?
Which really prompts us to wonder if what we are witnessing in Egypt is a resurrection of Augusto Pinochet, or even Benito Mussolini?
I am not particularly infatuated with Senator John McCain. However, the man did reveal a great deal of rectitude and intellectual honesty when he recently called the spade a spade in reference to the bloody coup by its real name.
" If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, it's a duck" The pornographically mendacious Egyptian media referred to McCain's remark as "clumsy." But there is really nothing clumsy about telling the truth, and, in any case, the man was telling the truth, a really scarce commodity in Egypt these days..
In truth, moral clumsiness belongs to those Egyptian politicians who readily accepted to play the role of the proverbial monkey for the army's organ grinder.
Unfortunately, words like "honesty" seem totally and conspicuously absent from the political lexicons of the secular establishment in Egypt. These people have long traditions of lying to the Egyptian people and the world. They know they are lying and have no regret about it. Lying is their daily stable and ultimate modus operandi, and they know it. This is how they have been running Egypt since 1952, which explains the ramshackle house that Egypt has been for decades.
The leftist camp in Egypt (and the Arab world) with its two wings, the Nasserites and Communists, have really been exposed naked by recent events. Hamdeen Sabbahi, the ostentatious leader of the so-called Public Current has proved himself to be a grand hypocrite and sleazy opportunist devoid of any moral principles.
He has just turned a blind eye to all the criminal violations perpetrated by the criminal junta, led by Sisi and cohorts.
I call him "hypocrite and opportunist" because he wouldn't have kept his mouth hermetically shut had President Mursi committed even a small fraction of what is occurring in Egypt today.
Sabbahi claims to be following the ideals of Gamal Abdul Nasser, the Arab world's mini-god who was largely responsible for the greatest Arab defeat in recent history, but eventually turned out to be a liar and imposter.
Sabbahi claims to a progressive revolutionary following Nasser 's style. However, we have noticed that he has not spoken a word against the ongoing treasonous military coordination between Israel and the Sisi junta.
Yes, the coup makers vehemently deny any coordination with Israel, claiming that it was an Egyptian helicopter gunship, not an armed Israeli drone that hit the so-called "Jihadists" in northern Sinai. But who would believe the Egyptian military, the very people who lie as often as they breathe the oxygen of life? Besides, since when Egypt could deploy offensive weapons in Sinai without a prior-Israeli permission?
Needless to say, Sabbahi's and other leftists' silence have proven - if a proof were needed in the first place- that these people have absolutely no moral credentials and that they are real enemies of democracy and freedom in Egypt.
Indeed, how else can we interpret their obvious infatuation with the bloody coup and the unlawful annulment of a democratically-voted constitution?
In light of the treacherous opportunism on the part of the leaders of the anti-Islamist camp in Egypt, we must call the spade a spade especially when that spade is seen in the hands of the Egyptian people's grave-diggers, and we are not speaking metaphorically.
We must proclaim aloud that these people are part of the problem facing the Egypt and can't really be part of the solution. They are anti-Islamic, despite the preponderance of vacuous sycophancy; they are really anti-democracy since they prove by word and act that they are against the verdict of the ballot box. And they must also be against the national interests of Egypt if only because military or military-backed dictatorships are the ultimate cancer that virulently corrodes through countries and societies, impeding their progress and prosperity.
As to the Islamists, they are not the impeccable angels some idealists would think they are. Never the less, at the very least, the Islamists have repeatedly proven that they practice what they preach.
This writer worked for some Egyptian media outlets for many years and have witnessed the pornographically unethical attacks on President Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood, like calling them "Nazis" and worse than Hitler.
None the less, Mursi never ordered the arrest of these hateful inciters and pathological liars who made no distinction between true freedom of speech and expression on the one hand and freedom to lie and incite to murder on the other..
Now, Mursi's liberal and leftist detractors are basking in their hypocrisy rather gleefully, watching the criminal junta strangle press freedom, arrest journalists and swell its jails and dungeons with political opponents.
Yes, silence towards the coup, which is really a colossal crime by any imaginable standard, denotes complicity and acquiescence to fascism, irrespective of the lies and empty claims, heard ad nauseam ever since Ahmed Said!
Hamas has condemned the Egyptian authorities for targeting the peaceful protestors at Rabea al-Adaweya and Nahda Squares resulting in horrific massacres claiming hundreds of lives. In a statement on Wednesday, Hamas renewed its position with regard to supporting people’s right to freedom and dignity and called for an end to Egyptian bloodshed.
"While we express pain and sadness at the Egyptian blood that was shed today in Cairo squares, we stress our unwavering position regarding Arab and Muslim peoples’ right to freedom and dignity. At this sombre juncture we call for an end to the shedding of Egyptian people’s blood and to stop using force against peaceful demonstrators.”
"While we express pain and sadness at the Egyptian blood that was shed today in Cairo squares, we stress our unwavering position regarding Arab and Muslim peoples’ right to freedom and dignity. At this sombre juncture we call for an end to the shedding of Egyptian people’s blood and to stop using force against peaceful demonstrators.”
Hundreds were killed and thousands were wounded by Egyptian army and police in an attempt to end a peaceful sit in held in Rabea al-Adaweya and Nahda Squares in Cairo, according to the field hospital in Rabea al-Adaweya. The field hospital received thousands of people who received shot-gun and bullet wounds. Some cases were obviously the result of sniper fire, the army and police had already deployed snipers who took positions on building tops.
The hospital doctors made an appeal for medical surgeons to help with the wounded as well as the need for ambulances.
The hospital doctors made an appeal for medical surgeons to help with the wounded as well as the need for ambulances.
13 aug 2013
Israeli military sources have reported that the “Iron Dome” missile interception system managed to successfully intercept a missile fired towards Eilat coastal city. The sources did not indicate the source of fire, and did not report any injuries or damages.
The "Mujaheddin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem" issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, and stated that it fired the missile on 1 a.m. Tuesday.
The missile targeting Eilat was fired from Sinai in Egypt; Egyptian security forces operating against armed groups in the area initiated a search campaign in an attempt to locate the source of fire, and determined that the gunmen launched the missiles from an area close to the border.
The statement of the Shura Council came following a statement made by Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, operating in Sinai, claiming responsibility for firing the missile in retaliation for the death of four of its fighters who were killed on Friday near the Egyptian city of Rafah.
The group said that a missile fired by an Israeli unmanned drone killed the four.
The "Mujaheddin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem" issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, and stated that it fired the missile on 1 a.m. Tuesday.
The missile targeting Eilat was fired from Sinai in Egypt; Egyptian security forces operating against armed groups in the area initiated a search campaign in an attempt to locate the source of fire, and determined that the gunmen launched the missiles from an area close to the border.
The statement of the Shura Council came following a statement made by Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, operating in Sinai, claiming responsibility for firing the missile in retaliation for the death of four of its fighters who were killed on Friday near the Egyptian city of Rafah.
The group said that a missile fired by an Israeli unmanned drone killed the four.
12 aug 2013
The Debate - Damaging democracy
|
Persian Gulf Arab states use petrodollars for geopolitical gains. On this edition of The Debate, we are asking how Saudi Arabia and other Arab states are influencing the crisis in Egypt and how their interests interlock with those of Israel. |
The Hamas Movement strongly denounced a senior Egyptian army commander for claiming that the investigations revealed the involvement of Hamas individuals in the Sinai events. This came in response to recent remarks made by commander of Egypt's second field army in Sinai Ahmed Wasif, in which he accused Hamas, without stating any evidence, of what had happened in Sinai
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri stressed that such accusations are blatant lies that include no numbers or names as usual.
"The Movement categorically denies that its members are involved in the Sinai events, and expresses its regret that such remarks were made in an attempt to reverse the equation and falsely convince the Egyptian people that the enemy is Hamas and not Israel," Abu Zuhri underlined.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri stressed that such accusations are blatant lies that include no numbers or names as usual.
"The Movement categorically denies that its members are involved in the Sinai events, and expresses its regret that such remarks were made in an attempt to reverse the equation and falsely convince the Egyptian people that the enemy is Hamas and not Israel," Abu Zuhri underlined.
Both Israeli and Egyptian military forces struck targets in the Sinai Peninsula over the weekend in what appears to be a coordinated campaign against Islamist forces active among the Bedouin tribes of the region.
The bloodshed involves at least two separate attacks, the details of which remain shrouded in secrecy. On Friday, a missile, apparently fired from an Israeli drone, slammed into Ajraa in the northern Sinai, near the border with the Gaza Strip. News reports claim the explosion destroyed a rocket launcher aimed at Israel, killing four or five Islamic militants.
On Saturday night, Egyptian army Apache helicopters, supplied by the United States, targeted supposed “terrorist sites” in the town of Al-Thoma, south of Sheikh Zuweid. Several four-wheel-drive vehicles were destroyed and at least 15 people killed. An Egyptian military spokesman later gave the toll as 25 killed or wounded.
Israeli officials, in keeping with their standard practice in regard to cross-border attacks against Arab neighbors, would not even confirm that the Israel Defense Forces had fired missiles into Sinai Friday, although the attack was widely reported in the international media and the death toll was confirmed by a spokesman for an armed Islamic group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis.
The incident would be the first in decades in which Israeli forces deliberately attacked a target on Egyptian soil. Israeli forces have killed Egyptian soldiers while allegedly responding to cross-border attacks by Islamists, but the official claim has been that the soldiers were unintended victims.
Acknowledging the political sensitivity of the issue, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said that Israel “appreciated” actions taken by Egypt in Sinai over the weekend. He added, “Israel respects the full sovereignty of Egypt.”
Egyptian military officials initially claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack, evidently in an effort to disguise the collaboration between the Egyptian and Israeli armed forces in killing Egyptian citizens. Eyewitnesses on the ground told the press that Egyptian military helicopters had been circling the area before the explosion and may have helped pinpoint the target, but the blast was caused by a missile fired from an Israeli drone.
A Reuters report confirmed inter-state consultations. “Both Israel and Egypt were coordinating closely… this time around. I very much doubt that anything was done outside the framework of that coordination,” the news agency said, quoting a source “who declined to be identified by name or nationality.”
Saturday’s attack was certainly carried out by the Egyptian military. Army troops used loudspeakers to warn residents not to leave their homes as the Apache helicopters swooped in and opened fire. Several houses were set afire as a result of the air strikes, according to the web site of the official newspaper Al Ahram .
An Egyptian army spokesman, Ahmed Ali, addressing a press briefing Sunday, confirmed the Sinai attacks in general terms, but refused to give any details, citing operational security concerns.
“Egypt’s armed forces affirm that it’s working in silence, in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior, to chase terrorist groups and to destroy criminal spots in North Sinai,” said Ali.
Last week, the Egyptian army announced it had arrested 103 “terrorists,” who are currently being interrogated, meaning they are likely being tortured, in Egyptian military prisons. Another 60 militants have been killed in Sinai during the monthlong period since the July 3 military coup.
Al Ahram carried a report Sunday, citing Egyptian military sources, that 600 Hamas operatives had entered Sinai from the Gaza Strip since the July 3 coup. The report cited this supposed invasion of “terrorists” as another reason for the military crackdown in the peninsula. It could also serve as a justification for further repressive measures against the Muslim Brotherhood by the Egyptian military regime.
The Debka Files web site, with close ties to Israeli military and intelligence services, gave an additional rationale for the intensive Egyptian-Israeli military collaboration. It reported that the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood’s clandestine operations, Mahmud Izzat Ibrahim, had fled Egypt after the July 3 military coup and taken up residence at the Gaza Beach Hotel in the Gaza Strip, under the protection of Hamas, which was founded by Palestinian supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.
According to this Israeli web site, “For effective action in the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian military needs help from Israel’s Defense Forces, just as the IDF needs the Egyptian army to counteract Al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorists in Sinai who are dedicated to attacking Israel as well as Egypt.”
The Obama administration is encouraging the collaboration between the Egyptian military and the state of Israel, which has been a keystone of the foreign policy of US imperialism since the Camp David accords of 1977. An array of US officials has traveled to the region since the military overthrow of President Mohammed Mursi in Egypt last month.
Most recently, Deputy US Secretary of State William Burns was in Cairo, meeting with the military leadership and its civilian front man, President Adly Mansour. Also visiting Cairo were two Republican senators, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, serving as informal political emissaries of the Obama White House.
Providing political cover for the joint Israeli-Egyptian military operation was the New York Times, which carried on Sunday a lengthy front-page article depicting the Sinai Peninsula as a lawless region beset by “something like an insurgency.” Both the content of the article and its prominence suggested coordination between the US military-intelligence apparatus, the Netanyahu government in Israel and the editorial offices of the leading US newspaper.
The bloodshed involves at least two separate attacks, the details of which remain shrouded in secrecy. On Friday, a missile, apparently fired from an Israeli drone, slammed into Ajraa in the northern Sinai, near the border with the Gaza Strip. News reports claim the explosion destroyed a rocket launcher aimed at Israel, killing four or five Islamic militants.
On Saturday night, Egyptian army Apache helicopters, supplied by the United States, targeted supposed “terrorist sites” in the town of Al-Thoma, south of Sheikh Zuweid. Several four-wheel-drive vehicles were destroyed and at least 15 people killed. An Egyptian military spokesman later gave the toll as 25 killed or wounded.
Israeli officials, in keeping with their standard practice in regard to cross-border attacks against Arab neighbors, would not even confirm that the Israel Defense Forces had fired missiles into Sinai Friday, although the attack was widely reported in the international media and the death toll was confirmed by a spokesman for an armed Islamic group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis.
The incident would be the first in decades in which Israeli forces deliberately attacked a target on Egyptian soil. Israeli forces have killed Egyptian soldiers while allegedly responding to cross-border attacks by Islamists, but the official claim has been that the soldiers were unintended victims.
Acknowledging the political sensitivity of the issue, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said that Israel “appreciated” actions taken by Egypt in Sinai over the weekend. He added, “Israel respects the full sovereignty of Egypt.”
Egyptian military officials initially claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack, evidently in an effort to disguise the collaboration between the Egyptian and Israeli armed forces in killing Egyptian citizens. Eyewitnesses on the ground told the press that Egyptian military helicopters had been circling the area before the explosion and may have helped pinpoint the target, but the blast was caused by a missile fired from an Israeli drone.
A Reuters report confirmed inter-state consultations. “Both Israel and Egypt were coordinating closely… this time around. I very much doubt that anything was done outside the framework of that coordination,” the news agency said, quoting a source “who declined to be identified by name or nationality.”
Saturday’s attack was certainly carried out by the Egyptian military. Army troops used loudspeakers to warn residents not to leave their homes as the Apache helicopters swooped in and opened fire. Several houses were set afire as a result of the air strikes, according to the web site of the official newspaper Al Ahram .
An Egyptian army spokesman, Ahmed Ali, addressing a press briefing Sunday, confirmed the Sinai attacks in general terms, but refused to give any details, citing operational security concerns.
“Egypt’s armed forces affirm that it’s working in silence, in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior, to chase terrorist groups and to destroy criminal spots in North Sinai,” said Ali.
Last week, the Egyptian army announced it had arrested 103 “terrorists,” who are currently being interrogated, meaning they are likely being tortured, in Egyptian military prisons. Another 60 militants have been killed in Sinai during the monthlong period since the July 3 military coup.
Al Ahram carried a report Sunday, citing Egyptian military sources, that 600 Hamas operatives had entered Sinai from the Gaza Strip since the July 3 coup. The report cited this supposed invasion of “terrorists” as another reason for the military crackdown in the peninsula. It could also serve as a justification for further repressive measures against the Muslim Brotherhood by the Egyptian military regime.
The Debka Files web site, with close ties to Israeli military and intelligence services, gave an additional rationale for the intensive Egyptian-Israeli military collaboration. It reported that the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood’s clandestine operations, Mahmud Izzat Ibrahim, had fled Egypt after the July 3 military coup and taken up residence at the Gaza Beach Hotel in the Gaza Strip, under the protection of Hamas, which was founded by Palestinian supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.
According to this Israeli web site, “For effective action in the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian military needs help from Israel’s Defense Forces, just as the IDF needs the Egyptian army to counteract Al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorists in Sinai who are dedicated to attacking Israel as well as Egypt.”
The Obama administration is encouraging the collaboration between the Egyptian military and the state of Israel, which has been a keystone of the foreign policy of US imperialism since the Camp David accords of 1977. An array of US officials has traveled to the region since the military overthrow of President Mohammed Mursi in Egypt last month.
Most recently, Deputy US Secretary of State William Burns was in Cairo, meeting with the military leadership and its civilian front man, President Adly Mansour. Also visiting Cairo were two Republican senators, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, serving as informal political emissaries of the Obama White House.
Providing political cover for the joint Israeli-Egyptian military operation was the New York Times, which carried on Sunday a lengthy front-page article depicting the Sinai Peninsula as a lawless region beset by “something like an insurgency.” Both the content of the article and its prominence suggested coordination between the US military-intelligence apparatus, the Netanyahu government in Israel and the editorial offices of the leading US newspaper.
11 aug 2013
The headline on the left belongs to Hebrew newspaper Yediot Ahronot. It was published on August 7, 1945, the day after the bestial nuclear attack on Hiroshima. It reads: "Two Jews Helped in the Invention of the Atomic Bomb." It shows better than anything else the attitude of the writers, their disregard for human life. Countless innocents had been incinerated to death, in what by definition was a Holocaust. It didn't matter. "Two Jews Helped" was the headline.
On August 8, 2013, Israel attacked in Sinai with a drone. Four men were killed. The day after, the breaking news headlines were humbler than in 1945; the disregard for life and the rights of others were no less despicable.
On August 8, 2013, Israel attacked in Sinai with a drone. Four men were killed. The day after, the breaking news headlines were humbler than in 1945; the disregard for life and the rights of others were no less despicable.
"Sinai group says it was target of Israeli drone"
The line above was the first headline that appeared on the Hebrew media after the attack. It was a typical attempt to circumvent Israel's Military Censor,* thus giving it credibility despite the phrasing. Yet, I waited a bit, until a senior Hebrew journalist closely related to the IDF published on that using circumventing codes "foreign sources say," "Israeli aircraft, apparently unmanned," and similarly ambiguous phrases.
Yes, an Israeli drone had attacked in Sinai, Egypt. This was the second time Israel attacked in Sinai after it signed a peace agreement with Egypt in 1979. The first event took place on August 18, 2011, when a series of cross-border attacks took place near Eilat, resulting in deaths to all sides involved. After Mubarak was removed from power, the attack was part of the ongoing insurrection in the Sinai.
The current attack must be seen in the context of the events reported in Israeli Anti-Missiles Fail in Eilat Attack. On April 17, 2013, the Iron Dome Antimissile Battery in Eilat failed to intercept an attack by the Salafi organization named "Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem." The attack caused no damage, but it proved that the Israeli antimissile system—as analyzed here—was good only on paper. Since then, it has been downgraded in the IDF Brave New Plan. Instead, offensive platforms, like killer drones, are favored now.
The line above was the first headline that appeared on the Hebrew media after the attack. It was a typical attempt to circumvent Israel's Military Censor,* thus giving it credibility despite the phrasing. Yet, I waited a bit, until a senior Hebrew journalist closely related to the IDF published on that using circumventing codes "foreign sources say," "Israeli aircraft, apparently unmanned," and similarly ambiguous phrases.
Yes, an Israeli drone had attacked in Sinai, Egypt. This was the second time Israel attacked in Sinai after it signed a peace agreement with Egypt in 1979. The first event took place on August 18, 2011, when a series of cross-border attacks took place near Eilat, resulting in deaths to all sides involved. After Mubarak was removed from power, the attack was part of the ongoing insurrection in the Sinai.
The current attack must be seen in the context of the events reported in Israeli Anti-Missiles Fail in Eilat Attack. On April 17, 2013, the Iron Dome Antimissile Battery in Eilat failed to intercept an attack by the Salafi organization named "Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem." The attack caused no damage, but it proved that the Israeli antimissile system—as analyzed here—was good only on paper. Since then, it has been downgraded in the IDF Brave New Plan. Instead, offensive platforms, like killer drones, are favored now.
Launching Site, Sinai
The Attack Hebrew media wasn't a swallow announcing the spring; the first news had arrived from Egyptian officials and a formal announcement by Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, the victim's organization. Egyptian security officials claimed that at 4:15PM on Friday, two explosions were heard about three kilometers west of the Rafah border line, when an Israeli drone had killed five suspected militants. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis said that four of its members were killed while the commander of the unit escaped. The dead were from the Sinai's Bedouin Tribes. IDF Spokesman and Israeli authorities have not released any comments, though they didn't deny the attack.
Casus belli?
The Attack Hebrew media wasn't a swallow announcing the spring; the first news had arrived from Egyptian officials and a formal announcement by Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, the victim's organization. Egyptian security officials claimed that at 4:15PM on Friday, two explosions were heard about three kilometers west of the Rafah border line, when an Israeli drone had killed five suspected militants. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis said that four of its members were killed while the commander of the unit escaped. The dead were from the Sinai's Bedouin Tribes. IDF Spokesman and Israeli authorities have not released any comments, though they didn't deny the attack.
Casus belli?
Israel Egypt Border
Was this a casus belli** event? Can Egypt legitimately declare war on Israel following the latter's aggression of Egyptian citizens on Egyptian land? The AP news agency quoted two senior Egyptian defense sources claiming that the Israeli airstrike had been coordinated with the Egyptian authorities. AP's report and the ongoing reactions within Egypt show that this is not a casus belli. Israel and the military dictatorship in Egypt have declared war on the Egyptian people. Dr. Ahmed Aref—Muslim Brotherhood Media Spokesman—published a statement saying there was ongoing attempts within the army to redefine "enemy" in a bid to turn the army's power inward.
"We hear about the crimes of the Zionist enemy along our borders as well as an infiltration of our borders and the killing of Egyptians," he said. A spokesman for the Justice and Freedom Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, said "Can the leaders of the July 3 revolution (the army deposition of Morsi) attack terrorist inside of Israeli territory the same way they permit Israel to attack Egyptian on Egyptian soil?" nailing the topic in a few words. People are not countries. The latter cannot declare war on individuals, despite the USA obviously thinking otherwise.
Envious of America's drone assassinations, Israel entered the same path with the blessing of the USA-backed military dictators in Egypt. In essence, this is not different from Hiroshima's bestial attack on 1945. Countries cannot declare war on individuals. If the latter are suspected of breaking the law, they are entitled to defend themselves in a proper court acting under published, non-secret laws and in public hearings so that people can see the justice in action. Anything else is State-Terror.
* Israel’s Military Censor is technically part of AMAN, the IDF Intelligence Directorate, but it works as an independent unit. Its head is appointed directly by the Defense Minister—a highly unusual step—and is only subject to parliamentary and judicial oversight. Not even the Minister of Defense can give orders to it.
The Military Censor has authority to suppress information it deems compromising from being made public in the media. Probably the most famous event ever censored was the Kav 300 picture (see Kav 300 Forever); the picture was exposed to the Israeli public only after the New York Times published it. This is typical; Israeli news outlets often circumvent the censor by reporting stories "as quoted from foreign news sources," which are not subject to the restrictions of the Israeli military censor.
The trial of Mordechai Vanunu, the assassination attempt on Khaled Mashal (see Mossad, Sonic Weapons & Haled Mashal) and events related to Operation Defensive Shield and Operation Cast Lead were also famously censored.
** Casus belli is Latin for "incident of war," it refers to an incident that allows starting a war. The UN Charter prohibits signatory countries from engaging in war except as a means of defending themselves or unless the UN gave prior approval to the operation.
Related:
IDF Offensive Redeployment Amid Syrian Fire
Did you know? IDF Photographs its own Defeat
Was this a casus belli** event? Can Egypt legitimately declare war on Israel following the latter's aggression of Egyptian citizens on Egyptian land? The AP news agency quoted two senior Egyptian defense sources claiming that the Israeli airstrike had been coordinated with the Egyptian authorities. AP's report and the ongoing reactions within Egypt show that this is not a casus belli. Israel and the military dictatorship in Egypt have declared war on the Egyptian people. Dr. Ahmed Aref—Muslim Brotherhood Media Spokesman—published a statement saying there was ongoing attempts within the army to redefine "enemy" in a bid to turn the army's power inward.
"We hear about the crimes of the Zionist enemy along our borders as well as an infiltration of our borders and the killing of Egyptians," he said. A spokesman for the Justice and Freedom Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, said "Can the leaders of the July 3 revolution (the army deposition of Morsi) attack terrorist inside of Israeli territory the same way they permit Israel to attack Egyptian on Egyptian soil?" nailing the topic in a few words. People are not countries. The latter cannot declare war on individuals, despite the USA obviously thinking otherwise.
Envious of America's drone assassinations, Israel entered the same path with the blessing of the USA-backed military dictators in Egypt. In essence, this is not different from Hiroshima's bestial attack on 1945. Countries cannot declare war on individuals. If the latter are suspected of breaking the law, they are entitled to defend themselves in a proper court acting under published, non-secret laws and in public hearings so that people can see the justice in action. Anything else is State-Terror.
* Israel’s Military Censor is technically part of AMAN, the IDF Intelligence Directorate, but it works as an independent unit. Its head is appointed directly by the Defense Minister—a highly unusual step—and is only subject to parliamentary and judicial oversight. Not even the Minister of Defense can give orders to it.
The Military Censor has authority to suppress information it deems compromising from being made public in the media. Probably the most famous event ever censored was the Kav 300 picture (see Kav 300 Forever); the picture was exposed to the Israeli public only after the New York Times published it. This is typical; Israeli news outlets often circumvent the censor by reporting stories "as quoted from foreign news sources," which are not subject to the restrictions of the Israeli military censor.
The trial of Mordechai Vanunu, the assassination attempt on Khaled Mashal (see Mossad, Sonic Weapons & Haled Mashal) and events related to Operation Defensive Shield and Operation Cast Lead were also famously censored.
** Casus belli is Latin for "incident of war," it refers to an incident that allows starting a war. The UN Charter prohibits signatory countries from engaging in war except as a means of defending themselves or unless the UN gave prior approval to the operation.
Related:
IDF Offensive Redeployment Amid Syrian Fire
Did you know? IDF Photographs its own Defeat
A funeral convoy carrying the bodies of four Islamist militants drives through Sheikh Zuweid, in the north of the Sinai peninsula, August 10, 2013. The four Islamist militants were killed by an air strike that their comrades said had been done by an Israeli drone but which state media said was the work of an Egyptian army helicopter.
An Egyptian militant group has said that an air strike that killed four of its members in the Sinai peninsula was carried out by Israel.
The group, called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, said four of its members belonging to Sinai Bedouin tribes had been killed by Israeli drones. Egypt's military denied there had been any Israeli strikes inside Egyptian territory.
The group accused the Egyptian army of co-ordinating the attack with Israel and threatened more strikes against Israel.
"How can the Egyptian army allow the Zionist unmanned planes to cross into Egyptian territory," the group's statement asked.
A funeral was held for the militants on Saturday, with the men's bodies driven through several border towns in northern Sinai. Dozens of men on pick-up trucks flying the jihadist black flag paraded through the towns, in an act of defiance to the army, witnesses said.
Militants based mainly in northern Sinai near the Israeli border have escalated their attacks on security forces and other targets since July 3, when the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi and installed a new government.
The army has been reluctant to confront the militants inside towns in order not to provoke the tight-knit tribes, military sources said.
There have been conflicting reports about the source of Friday's attack.
The state owned al-Ahram newspaper and the official news agency MENA, quoting anonymous security officials, reported on Saturday that Egyptian military aircraft had carried out the strike. Witnesses said Egyptian military helicopters had hovered over the area after the blasts.
On Friday, the Egyptian military said two explosions had been heard in the Sinai Peninsula, close to the border with Israel, and that it would investigate their cause.
"There is no truth whatsoever to any Israeli strikes inside Egyptian territory and the claim that there is Egyptian and Israeli co-ordination on the matter is utterly baseless," military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Aly said in a statement on Friday.
The Israel Defence Forces said the army was not responding to the reports, according to Israeli news site Haaretz.
The security situation in Sinai has deteriorated since the 2011 revolution in Egypt, when the security services withdrew, leaving a vacuum in which armed Islamists thrived, and some foreign fighters filtered into the area. The militants also gained access to more sophisticated weapons from Libya after the civil war in that country, analysts have said.
There have been persistent but unconfirmed rumours that the fighters have acquired surface-to-air missiles that could threaten aircraft in Egypt and Israel.
"It appears that Islamist militants are taking advantage of a fluid situation," an expert on Egyptian politics and the military at the Century Foundation in New York, Michael Wahid Hanna, said. The biggest concern for the US and Israel, Mr Hanna said, is "the possibility that Egypt has lost control over what's going on in the Sinai".
AFP, New York Times
An Egyptian militant group has said that an air strike that killed four of its members in the Sinai peninsula was carried out by Israel.
The group, called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, said four of its members belonging to Sinai Bedouin tribes had been killed by Israeli drones. Egypt's military denied there had been any Israeli strikes inside Egyptian territory.
The group accused the Egyptian army of co-ordinating the attack with Israel and threatened more strikes against Israel.
"How can the Egyptian army allow the Zionist unmanned planes to cross into Egyptian territory," the group's statement asked.
A funeral was held for the militants on Saturday, with the men's bodies driven through several border towns in northern Sinai. Dozens of men on pick-up trucks flying the jihadist black flag paraded through the towns, in an act of defiance to the army, witnesses said.
Militants based mainly in northern Sinai near the Israeli border have escalated their attacks on security forces and other targets since July 3, when the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi and installed a new government.
The army has been reluctant to confront the militants inside towns in order not to provoke the tight-knit tribes, military sources said.
There have been conflicting reports about the source of Friday's attack.
The state owned al-Ahram newspaper and the official news agency MENA, quoting anonymous security officials, reported on Saturday that Egyptian military aircraft had carried out the strike. Witnesses said Egyptian military helicopters had hovered over the area after the blasts.
On Friday, the Egyptian military said two explosions had been heard in the Sinai Peninsula, close to the border with Israel, and that it would investigate their cause.
"There is no truth whatsoever to any Israeli strikes inside Egyptian territory and the claim that there is Egyptian and Israeli co-ordination on the matter is utterly baseless," military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Aly said in a statement on Friday.
The Israel Defence Forces said the army was not responding to the reports, according to Israeli news site Haaretz.
The security situation in Sinai has deteriorated since the 2011 revolution in Egypt, when the security services withdrew, leaving a vacuum in which armed Islamists thrived, and some foreign fighters filtered into the area. The militants also gained access to more sophisticated weapons from Libya after the civil war in that country, analysts have said.
There have been persistent but unconfirmed rumours that the fighters have acquired surface-to-air missiles that could threaten aircraft in Egypt and Israel.
"It appears that Islamist militants are taking advantage of a fluid situation," an expert on Egyptian politics and the military at the Century Foundation in New York, Michael Wahid Hanna, said. The biggest concern for the US and Israel, Mr Hanna said, is "the possibility that Egypt has lost control over what's going on in the Sinai".
AFP, New York Times
10 aug 2013
An Egyptian militant group said on Saturday that a strike that killed four of its members in the Sinai peninsula was Israeli.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis said four of its members belonging to Sinai tribes had been killed by Israeli drones on Friday.
Egypt's military denied on Friday that there had been any Israeli strikes inside Egyptian territory.
The group accused the Egyptian army of coordinating the attack with Israel, and threatened more strikes against Israel.
"How can the Egyptian army allow the Zionist unmanned planes to cross into Egyptian territory," the statement said.
A funeral was held for the militants on Saturday, with the bodies of the four driven through several border towns in north Sinai.
Dozens of men on pick-up trucks flying a black Jihadi flag paraded through the towns, in an act of defiance to the army, witnesses told AFP.
Militants based mainly in north Sinai near Israel's border have escalated attacks on security forces and other targets since July 3, when the army ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and installed a new government.
But the army has been reluctant to confront the militants inside towns in order not to provoke the tight-knit tribes, military sources say.
There have been conflicting reports about the source of Friday's attack.
Officials told AFP the strike came from the Egyptian military, as part of their campaign to curtail a surge in violence and rein in militant activity in the lawless Sinai.
Witnesses said Egyptian military helicopters hovered above the site after the blasts.
On Friday, the Egyptian military said two explosions were heard in the Sinai peninsula, close to the border with Israel, and that it would investigate their cause.
"There is no truth whatsoever to any Israeli strikes inside Egyptian territory and the claim that there is Egyptian and Israeli coordination on the matter is utterly baseless," military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Aly said in a statement on Friday.
Sinai group says it was target of Israeli drone
Al-Qaeda affiliated Sinai group claims it was target of alleged Israeli drone strike, says 4 – not 5 – killed, with rocket launching cell's leader managing to flee. Meanwhile, Muslim Brotherhood slams army for allegedly coordinating with Israel prior to attack
An al-Qaeda-linked group active in the Sinai Peninsula says its fighters were the target of a rare Israeli drone strike into Egyptian territory. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, in a statement posted on a militant website Saturday, said that four of its members were killed in the Friday attack as they were preparing a cross-border rocket strike into Israel.
"Our heroes became martyrs during their jihadi duties against the Jews in a rocket attack on occupied lands," the Ansar Beit al-Maqdis group said on a jihadist website. It further said the dead were from Egyptian Sinai tribes and that the rocket squad's leader escaped.
Egyptian security officials speaking anonymously Friday said that a drone firing from the Israeli side of the border had killed five suspected militants. The conflicting death tolls could not be reconciled.
Israel maintained official silence about the strike, while an Egyptian military spokesman later denied the report but did not provide another cause for the explosion.
Meanwhile, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has published a statement slamming the army, with which it has faced off against in violent clashes since the army deposed Mohammed Morsi from the Egyptian presidency. Taking a strongly worded jab at the army, Muslim Brotherhood Media Spokesman Dr. Ahmed Aref published a statement saying there was ongoing attempts within the army to redefine 'enemy' in a bid to turn the army's power inwards through the use of propaganda and lies.
Regarding Israel and the alleged attack on ready-to-launch rockets in the Egyptian town of Rafah, Aref said the incident was a breech of Egyptian sovereignty. "Now we hear about the crimes of the Zionist enemy along our borders as well as an infiltration of our borders and the killing of Egyptians, after Israel recognized the new organization in Egypt," he said, hinting at cooperation between the new regime and Israel.
"What happened should prove to every Egyptian that the real enemy is outside of Egypt," he said, calling on the Egyptian army "not to fall into this trap." One of the representatives of the Justice and Freedom Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, also slammed the alleged Israeli attack, saying: "Can the leaders of the July 3 revolution (in which the army deposed of Morsi) attack terrorist inside of Israeli territory the same way they permit Israel to attack Egyptian on Egyptian soil?" he rhetorically asked.
A pro-Morsi umbrella organization also published a scathing statement regarding the alleged attack, calling it an "act of terror," which "threatens Egypt's national security." Target: Eilat? Friday, Egyptian reports which have not received official confirmation claimed that Sinai militant groups decided to launch rockets at Israel, after acquiring various rockets via smuggling routes through the Red Sea.
The AP news agency reported two senior Egyptian defense sources said that the Israeli airstrike was coordinated with the Egyptian authorities. An aircraft fired two rockets toward the target in Rafah, killing five militants and destroying a rocket launching platform, said the AP report.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram quoted the Egyptian army spokesperson who said that on 4:15 pm on Friday two explosions were heard about three kilometers west of the border line. According to him, Egyptian army forces are canvassing the area to find an explanation for the explosions. An Israel source said in response to the reports: "We're aware of the increase Egyptian army activity against terror in Sinai."
Earlier on Friday Ma'an reported that it was an Egyptian alert of anti-aircraft rockets in Sinai which led to the closure of Eilat's airport for two hours on Thursday.
The news agency reported that according to high ranking Egyptian army officer, Cairo alerted Israel to threats made by Sinai Peninsula-based militant groups to attack Israeli targets with 70 km-ranged rockets.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis said four of its members belonging to Sinai tribes had been killed by Israeli drones on Friday.
Egypt's military denied on Friday that there had been any Israeli strikes inside Egyptian territory.
The group accused the Egyptian army of coordinating the attack with Israel, and threatened more strikes against Israel.
"How can the Egyptian army allow the Zionist unmanned planes to cross into Egyptian territory," the statement said.
A funeral was held for the militants on Saturday, with the bodies of the four driven through several border towns in north Sinai.
Dozens of men on pick-up trucks flying a black Jihadi flag paraded through the towns, in an act of defiance to the army, witnesses told AFP.
Militants based mainly in north Sinai near Israel's border have escalated attacks on security forces and other targets since July 3, when the army ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and installed a new government.
But the army has been reluctant to confront the militants inside towns in order not to provoke the tight-knit tribes, military sources say.
There have been conflicting reports about the source of Friday's attack.
Officials told AFP the strike came from the Egyptian military, as part of their campaign to curtail a surge in violence and rein in militant activity in the lawless Sinai.
Witnesses said Egyptian military helicopters hovered above the site after the blasts.
On Friday, the Egyptian military said two explosions were heard in the Sinai peninsula, close to the border with Israel, and that it would investigate their cause.
"There is no truth whatsoever to any Israeli strikes inside Egyptian territory and the claim that there is Egyptian and Israeli coordination on the matter is utterly baseless," military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Aly said in a statement on Friday.
Sinai group says it was target of Israeli drone
Al-Qaeda affiliated Sinai group claims it was target of alleged Israeli drone strike, says 4 – not 5 – killed, with rocket launching cell's leader managing to flee. Meanwhile, Muslim Brotherhood slams army for allegedly coordinating with Israel prior to attack
An al-Qaeda-linked group active in the Sinai Peninsula says its fighters were the target of a rare Israeli drone strike into Egyptian territory. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, in a statement posted on a militant website Saturday, said that four of its members were killed in the Friday attack as they were preparing a cross-border rocket strike into Israel.
"Our heroes became martyrs during their jihadi duties against the Jews in a rocket attack on occupied lands," the Ansar Beit al-Maqdis group said on a jihadist website. It further said the dead were from Egyptian Sinai tribes and that the rocket squad's leader escaped.
Egyptian security officials speaking anonymously Friday said that a drone firing from the Israeli side of the border had killed five suspected militants. The conflicting death tolls could not be reconciled.
Israel maintained official silence about the strike, while an Egyptian military spokesman later denied the report but did not provide another cause for the explosion.
Meanwhile, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has published a statement slamming the army, with which it has faced off against in violent clashes since the army deposed Mohammed Morsi from the Egyptian presidency. Taking a strongly worded jab at the army, Muslim Brotherhood Media Spokesman Dr. Ahmed Aref published a statement saying there was ongoing attempts within the army to redefine 'enemy' in a bid to turn the army's power inwards through the use of propaganda and lies.
Regarding Israel and the alleged attack on ready-to-launch rockets in the Egyptian town of Rafah, Aref said the incident was a breech of Egyptian sovereignty. "Now we hear about the crimes of the Zionist enemy along our borders as well as an infiltration of our borders and the killing of Egyptians, after Israel recognized the new organization in Egypt," he said, hinting at cooperation between the new regime and Israel.
"What happened should prove to every Egyptian that the real enemy is outside of Egypt," he said, calling on the Egyptian army "not to fall into this trap." One of the representatives of the Justice and Freedom Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, also slammed the alleged Israeli attack, saying: "Can the leaders of the July 3 revolution (in which the army deposed of Morsi) attack terrorist inside of Israeli territory the same way they permit Israel to attack Egyptian on Egyptian soil?" he rhetorically asked.
A pro-Morsi umbrella organization also published a scathing statement regarding the alleged attack, calling it an "act of terror," which "threatens Egypt's national security." Target: Eilat? Friday, Egyptian reports which have not received official confirmation claimed that Sinai militant groups decided to launch rockets at Israel, after acquiring various rockets via smuggling routes through the Red Sea.
The AP news agency reported two senior Egyptian defense sources said that the Israeli airstrike was coordinated with the Egyptian authorities. An aircraft fired two rockets toward the target in Rafah, killing five militants and destroying a rocket launching platform, said the AP report.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram quoted the Egyptian army spokesperson who said that on 4:15 pm on Friday two explosions were heard about three kilometers west of the border line. According to him, Egyptian army forces are canvassing the area to find an explanation for the explosions. An Israel source said in response to the reports: "We're aware of the increase Egyptian army activity against terror in Sinai."
Earlier on Friday Ma'an reported that it was an Egyptian alert of anti-aircraft rockets in Sinai which led to the closure of Eilat's airport for two hours on Thursday.
The news agency reported that according to high ranking Egyptian army officer, Cairo alerted Israel to threats made by Sinai Peninsula-based militant groups to attack Israeli targets with 70 km-ranged rockets.
Egyptian military tanks are deployed in the northern Sinai town of El-Arish.
Egyptian military sources said Saturday that four of the five victims of an airstrike in Sinai a day earlier had been identified.
Senior military sources told Ma'an that one body was too badly burned to identify. They named the others as Ibrahim H. A, Mohmmad M. H. A, Saeed A amd Hussam A. D.
The victims were traveling in two cars and a motorcycle in al-Arja village, three kilometers from the Israeli border south of Rafah, when they were killed, the sources said.
On Friday evening, military sources told Ma'an the strikes appeared to have been carried out by an Israeli drone and that they hit a rocket-launching site.
But Egypt's military spokesman denied any Israeli strike.
"There is no truth whatsoever to any Israeli strikes inside Egyptian territory and the claims that there is Egyptian and Israeli coordination on the matter is utterly baseless," military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Aly said in a statement.
"The armed forces are combing the area of the explosions to find out the cause," Colonel Aly said.
Witnesses said Egyptian military helicopters hovered above the site after the blasts.
Israel's military on Thursday ordered the cancellation of all flights in and out of the Red Sea resort of Eilat, which borders Egypt, due to what is said was a security threat.
Last month, Israel deployed a battery of its Iron Dome missile defense system near Eilat, which has been a target of attacks in the past.
In April the town was struck by rocket fire from the Sinai, and debris from a rocket that hit northern Eilat on July 4 was found days later.
Egypt's army is currently engaged in an offensive in Sinai to curtail a surge in violence since Islamist president Mohamed Mursi was ousted on July 3 in a military-led coup.
The Egyptian military has coordinated the operation in Sinai with Israel, army officials said in July.
The 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt imposes strict controls on deployments in the desert peninsula.
Egyptian military sources said Saturday that four of the five victims of an airstrike in Sinai a day earlier had been identified.
Senior military sources told Ma'an that one body was too badly burned to identify. They named the others as Ibrahim H. A, Mohmmad M. H. A, Saeed A amd Hussam A. D.
The victims were traveling in two cars and a motorcycle in al-Arja village, three kilometers from the Israeli border south of Rafah, when they were killed, the sources said.
On Friday evening, military sources told Ma'an the strikes appeared to have been carried out by an Israeli drone and that they hit a rocket-launching site.
But Egypt's military spokesman denied any Israeli strike.
"There is no truth whatsoever to any Israeli strikes inside Egyptian territory and the claims that there is Egyptian and Israeli coordination on the matter is utterly baseless," military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Aly said in a statement.
"The armed forces are combing the area of the explosions to find out the cause," Colonel Aly said.
Witnesses said Egyptian military helicopters hovered above the site after the blasts.
Israel's military on Thursday ordered the cancellation of all flights in and out of the Red Sea resort of Eilat, which borders Egypt, due to what is said was a security threat.
Last month, Israel deployed a battery of its Iron Dome missile defense system near Eilat, which has been a target of attacks in the past.
In April the town was struck by rocket fire from the Sinai, and debris from a rocket that hit northern Eilat on July 4 was found days later.
Egypt's army is currently engaged in an offensive in Sinai to curtail a surge in violence since Islamist president Mohamed Mursi was ousted on July 3 in a military-led coup.
The Egyptian military has coordinated the operation in Sinai with Israel, army officials said in July.
The 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt imposes strict controls on deployments in the desert peninsula.