Archive for Sinai Peninsula

Israeli held for sneaking into Egypt

by admin
January 1st, 2013

Egypt on Monday said it had detained an Israeli army officer in the Taba region of the Sinai peninsula for sneaking through the border, but his mother and Israeli media said he was a civilian pro-Palestinian activist.

The Egyptian state news agency MENA said the man was a Tel Aviv resident of Russian origin who was not carrying a passport, and that his name had not been on tourist arrival lists. An Egyptian state security officer said the man was an army officer who had been detained on Saturday and was still being interrogated. 

But Israeli media reported that Andrei Pshenichnikov, a known pro-Palestinian activist, had crossed into Egypt with the intention of entering the Gaza Strip, an area that is off limits to Israelis for security reasons.

His mother, Svetlana, told Israel Radio that he was in custody in Egypt and that he had intended to travel via Sinai to Cairo to rendezvous with friends from France.

"He received his visa (to visit Egypt) and went to Eilat, intending to cross into Egypt, tour the area and then go to Cairo, but Israeli police stopped him at the border and said he had tried to cross the border illegally … They held him for several days and they demanded he sign an undertaking not to go to Cairo, but he refused."

She added that her son was eventually released by Israeli authorities after his Israeli and Russian passports had been confiscated, but that later in the day he had called from Taba and said he had been detained there by Egyptian authorities.

"After he finished his army service … he supported (Palestinians) … He later rented an apartment in a refugee camp in Bethlehem to prove to the locals that there are Israelis who are in favor of peace," Svetlana added, in poor Hebrew with a heavy Russian accent.

Egyptian security sources in Sinai said the detainee had been gathering information about Sinai from drivers in the area near the Taba border crossing between Egypt and Israel.

Egypt is trying to reassert control over Sinai, which has suffered from lax security since the uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.

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Army and Bedouins thwart rocket smuggling to Gaza

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December 24th, 2012

Armed Forces personnel in North Sinai, in cooperation with local Bedouins, foiled an attempt on Monday to smuggle 17 rockets to the Gaza Strip.

A military source said the rockets are French-made TDI model, caliber 68 mm, range three kilometers ​​and can be used air to land or land to land.

The Armed Forces have been engaged in an ongoing mission to secure the Sinai peninsula and borders with Gaza and Israel.

The Israelis claim that Iran has been manufacturing rockets for Hamas, which brings them in through Sudan and the Sinai, under whose desert frontier with Gaza there is a network of smuggling tunnels.

Israel also alleges that there are Soviet-style Grad or Katyusha rockets with ranges of between 20 km and 40 km (12 miles and 25 miles) present in Gaza.

Israel launched an eight-day attack on the Gaza Strip in November, killing 162 people, including 37 children. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold on 21 November after Egyptian mediation.

Edited translation from MENA

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Defense minister bans private land ownership on eastern border

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December 23rd, 2012

Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday banned the private ownership, rental and use of nearly all land on Egypt’s eastern border.

The decree, covering what spokesperson Ahmed Mohamed Ali explained on the military’s official Facebook page as “strategic areas of military importance,” covers land five kilometers west of the border, which separates Egypt from Israel and the Gaza Strip. Land in the city of Rafah, near to Gaza, is an exception to the decree.

According to Law 143/1981, the defense minister determines areas of strategic military importance. The military maintains a database or these areas and its authorities supervise them. They cannot be used for non-military purposes without the approval of the defense minister.

Sisi’s decision, published as Law 203/2012 in the Egyptian Gazette, a bulletin in which new government laws are printed, also bans the private ownership, rental and use of land on islands, protectorates and archaeological sites in Red Sea Governorate.

The second article of the defense minister’s decision says only Egyptians and people possessing Egyptian citizenship have the right to own land in the Sinai Peninsula. After the government began to receive requests to purchase state-owned land in Sinai in November, individuals and corporations reportedly submitted an unusually high number of requests.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Brotherhood leader sees US, Israeli role in Sinai instability

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November 20th, 2012

A senior leader at the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party said there are “clear indications” the US and Israel have played a role in the crises in Sinai and Gaza.

“In the past, we used to inquire about the roles of [former chief of intelligence] Omar Suleiman and [former interior minister] Habib al-Adly, but now, with crises in Sinai and Gaza, I am looking for the role of [Israeli home front minister] Avi Dichter and [US Ambassador to Egypt] Anne Patterson,” Mohamed al-Beltagy, a former MP and a member of the Constituent Assembly, wrote on his Facebook page Tuesday.

The Sinai Peninsula has been especially unstable since the January 2011 revolution deposed former president Hosni Mubarak and later brought the Brotherhood to power through elections. The area has seen repeated clashes between security forces and unknown gunmen. One assault in August killed 16 Egyptian officers.

“There are apparent signs of a new wave of planned chaos,” Beltagy wrote. “Clashes, catastrophes, recurrent problems, surprising hurdles to the new constitution, unprecedented media controversies … mounting political disagreements, are all the setting for an atmosphere of chaos.”

Beltagy blamed the new Egyptian regime’s slow decision-making, allowing the former regime figures to occupy vital posts, and failing to expose “the plot being formed.”

However, Beltagy said he is “confident the revolution will proceed despite all challenges and threats.”

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Israeli media: Four missiles land in Israel, allegedly fired from Sinai

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November 14th, 2012

Israeli media reports have said that four missiles landed Wednesday on the Israeli side of the Egyptian-Israeli border.

Daily Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said no injuries were reported and speculated that the missiles were fired from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. 

President Mohamed Morsy met with Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi earlier on Wednesday to discuss the security situation in Sinai and how to support missions there targeting criminals, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.

“Morsy and Sisi discussed ways to improve the security situation in Sinai, the current situation in the governorate, and security on the borders,” sources told the independent daily, “as well as the details of an Armed Forces plan to enforce stability in Sinai.”

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FJP drafts amendment to Israel peace treaty for Morsy, Parliament to review

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November 13th, 2012

A Freedom and Justice Party figure said Tuesday that the party’s legal committee is working on a new draft law to amend the 1979 peace treaty signed with Israel. It will be sent to President Mohamed Morsy, so he and the next Parliament can review it.

The draft law intends to amend the treaty so the Egyptian Armed Forces can gain full control over the Sinai Peninsula, especially areas in which the military cannot deploy freely.

Osama Suleiman, secretary general of the FJP in Beheira, said the party had worked on amendments to the 1979 treaty during parliamentary sessions, but the legislature’s dissolution put an end to reviews of the law.

Suleiman added that amending the treaty would not take place without an elected parliament.

“We’re waiting for the return of parliament to propose the treaty amendment, as the president cannot amend it while the legislative authority is absent,” he added.

Amending the treaty became an essential demand in light of unstable security situations that resulted from the policies of the former regime, he added.

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Officer injured in Sinai gas station attack

by admin
October 22nd, 2012

A security officer at Abordis Police Department was wounded in an armed attack by unidentified armed men Monday afternoon inside a gas station in Abordis, South Sinai, security and medical sources said.

Sources said the security member is Mohamed Kamel Mohamed, 22. He was severely injured in the chest and was taken to Sharm el-Sheikh International Hospital for treatment.

Security authorities began their investigation of the incident to find the attacker, the sources said.

Security and military forces have launched an extensive campaign to purge the Sinai Peninsula of criminals, after the death of 16 Egyptian security officers in an attack targeting a security checkpoint near the Israel border on 5 August.

Edited translation from MENA

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Hamas delegation arrives Cairo for talks on Sinai threats

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October 17th, 2012

A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo Wednesday evening to discuss threats from a Jihadi group in Sinai with alleged connections to the Gaza Strip and plans to launch attacks on Israel.  

Sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the delegation would report to officials at the Egyptian General Intelligence Services the latest information they have on the issue. The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the visit would last for a few days.

Earlier Wednesday, the state-run MENA news agency quoted a prominent Hamas figure as saying that the visit will discuss internal issues pertaining the group, and the Palestinian arena in general. He didn’t give any further details on the visit.

The last visit to Cairo by a Hamas delegation was in late July, during which Hamas political bureau head Khaled Meshaal announced that he would not run for a new term in office.

An Islamist group in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula said on Tuesday it will take revenge against the Jewish state for the killing of Palestinian militants in Gaza over the weekend.

Islamist militants have stepped up attacks on security forces in Sinai and on the Israeli border since the ouster last year of former President Hosni Mubarak, who had worked closely with Israel to secure the border region.

"We, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdes, tell the Jews that the blood of our brothers in Palestine is ours and their revenge is ours… So wait for our painful reply and revenge," the group said in a statement posted on Islamist websites.

An Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinian militants, including the alleged leader of an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group in the Gaza Strip, on Saturday. Three other militants were killed on Sunday.

The Ansar Bayt al-Maqdes group had claimed responsibility for several attacks on Israel from Sinai.

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Floods hit Sinai Sunday, no losses reported

by admin
October 1st, 2012

Floods hit several areas in Sinai late Sunday, but no damage was reported.

Residents of Nakhl in central Sinai told state news agency MENA that heavy rains caused floods to sweep several areas in the region.

In South Sinai, 10-centimeter-high rains accumulated in Wadi Feiran and other areas.

North Sinai Governor Sayed Abdel Fattah Harhour ordered an emergency unit to operate around the clock to receive flood-related reports.

The torrential rains come at a time when the peninsula has been suffering drought for seven years.

The Egyptian Meteorological Authority warned Sunday that the Sinai Peninsula would face inclement weather and torrential rains.

Edited translation from MENA

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Sinai tribes demand representation in constitution

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September 27th, 2012

Bedouin tribal leaders demanded on Thursday that the new constitution recognize their traditional judicial system. They also criticized the lack of representation of Sinai's tribes in the Constituent Assembly tasked with drafting the constitution.

“Is the former regime’s policy towards Sinai's tribes unchanged?” asked Sheikh Aref Abou Abdah, a tribal leader in Sheikh Zuwaid, in reference to this lack of representation during a hearing with the assembly’s proposals committee.

The Bedouin representatives said that their traditional judicial system, consistent with the tribes’ customs and traditions, must be recognized by the state.

They added that this system would exist as a complement, not alternative, to the state judicial system, and claimed that the majority of the issues plaguing Sinai’s tribes could be solved in a mere two weeks if tried before the traditional courts.

Mohamed al-Beltagy, head of the proposals committee, asked the tribal leaders to draft a text of the proposed article in language that would not conflict with state law.

The former Mubarak regime neglected the Sinai peninsula for decades. The local population, mostly composed of Bedouin tribes, has complained of discrimination, under-investment and poor treatment from state security forces, that has continued since the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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