Israel was hit with a coordinated series of terrorist attacks today which left seven Israelis dead and a number of wounded. Two Egged buses and an IDF vehicle were targeted, and several soldiers were also wounded when explosives were detonated at the security fence with Gaza.
The attack involved an estimated 20 terrorists using vehicles who crossed the Israeli-Egyptian border.
In the first attack, which occurred around 12PM local time, three terrorists ambushed bus # 392 en route to the Israeli city of Eilat as it traveled on Route 12 from Beershheba, opening fire with automatic weapons. Most of the passengers in the first bus were IDF soldiers heading to the Red Sea resort on leave. The terrorists sprayed the bus with automatic weapons fire,after which the IDF troops engaged the terrorists in a firefight, killing all three.
According to witnesses, the attackers were dressed in Egyptian Army uniforms. Where they got them is an open question.
The next attack occurred when an IDF vehicle trying to reach the scene hit an IED that had been planted roadside, resulting in numerous casualties.
In a third attack, which took place at 1:30 PM local time, terrorists fired at another bus and a private car. An anti-tank missile was fired at the bus, but hit the private car instead, killing the occupants.
The Palestinian Popular Committees, a Gaza-based al-Qaeda group is the prime suspect, but nothing happens in Gaza without Hamas approval. This attack involved a great deal of planning and logistics and was almost certainly a joint operation.
The attack represents a major escalation in the War Against The Jews. The use of an IED represents a new tactic, one that has been used extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I smell Iran's hand in this. At least one of my sources is telling me that Hezbollah was involved in the planning and execution, and given that Hamas is already a patron of Iran and is a recipient of Iranian armaments, that's entirely plausible.
As Carl reminds us, one of the reasons the attack was so successful is that the border fence between Israel and Egypt has not been completed.It wasn't a priority project because under Mubarak, Egypt was committed to keeping the peace agreements with Israel, maintained control over the Egypt-Israel border and and over Egypt's border fence with Gaza. Yes, you read that correctly. The so-called 'siege' of Gaza would not have been effective without the Egyptians maintaining it on their own borders with the Hamas-ruled territory, somethin gthat's almost never mentioned by the usual suspects. The new regime is not as committed, to say the least.
Thanks to the US-backed ousting of Hosni Mubarak, the smuggling of weapons, money and fighters to the Hamas reichlet in Gaza has been stepped up, with the new Egyptian regime mostly turning a blind eye. And with the border fence not completed, the Israelis were simply caught by surprise.
I'm almost certain this is a lead in to increased hostilities and probably war in the near future.
"Thanks to the US backed ousting of Hosni Mubarak..."
ReplyDeleteThere was nothing the US could have done to save the Mubarak government. Essentially even if the US had brought all of its diplomatic, economic, and conventional military power to bear in trying to save the Mubarak regime it could not have done so. To even attempt to save the Mubarak government would not only have been futile but it would have further inflamed anti-Americanism to an even greater degree than it already is in Egypt and the braoder Middle East on top of that the attempt would have failed any way!! Mubarak was and is gone. There's nothing we could have done to prevent that even if we wanted to.
Now with that said, the US could have and likely should have handled things differently. 1.)While the Mubarak government could not have been saved, US intervention at key points seems to have meant the government fell faster than it would have had the US simply stayed out of it all together. If the US stays out of it, then the governemnt still falls but it takes longer and this gives other parties the opportunity to gain in strength and organization. They very likely would have. Essentially this would mean that the Egyptian government that emerges would very likely had factions who could serve as a check to the Muslim Brotherhood meaning the new governemnt would not pose the same threat to America that the current one does. 2.)Had the US not acted to restrain Israel in its wars with Hezbollah and Hamas these groups likely would have been crushed. Hamas and Hezbollah are both bitter enemies of America. The destruction of these groups was very much in our interest as well as Israel's. Given the logistics of the situation and Israel's military training and intellegence services, Israel is much better able to do this than America is. As such, America should have stayed out of this one as well.
As an American, I feel justification to critcize the policies of my own government. Not being an Israelis I'm hesitant to make suggestions on how they should proceed, however, it seems to me that completion of the security fence between Israel and Egypt should have been a higher priority. After all even if the "Arab Spring" had not happened the Mubarak government was eventually going to violate the agreements any way. If I can figure this out, one would think Israeli intellegence could have figured this out as well. Had the security fence beenn in place it seems Israel would have had a better chance to prevent these attacks.