Tag: smuggling tunnels
ISIS Responsible for Rocket Attack on Eilat, Now Controls Gaza Military Tunnels
Despite pressure from Egypt, a source has told a Hebrew-language news site that ISIS now controls Gaza military tunnels.
Another Gaza Tunnel Collapse, More Missing Gazans
Four Gaza tunnel workers were buried alive, again, in a cave-in three days ago, near the Egyptian border.
If Egypt Can Destroy Gaza’s Tunnels…
If we're already being creative, here's another thought...
Egypt Destroys 285 Smuggling and Terror Tunnels in Three Months
The Egyptian army has destroyed 185 smuggling and terror tunnels under the border between Egypt and Gaza since February, according to the country's military...
Here’s How Hamas Digs Terror Tunnels and Builds Rockets (Video)
The Defense Ministry is literally gambling the lives of Israelis by only not bombing terror tunnels.
Today the Brotherhood, Tomorrow Hamas
The new rulers of Egypt have a much shorter fuse than Israel when it comes to putting down enemies.
Closed Tunnels Cost Hamas $230 Million a Month
Egypt’s closure of smuggling tunnels between Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula is costing Hamas $230 million in lost revenue a month, a senior official...
IDF Discovers Gaza Tunnel Loaded with Explosives
The IDF has discovered a smuggling tunnel loaded with explosives in central Gaza, one day after the military exposed a tunnel that that had...
Fatah Wants Egypt to Overthrow Hamas
"The Egyptians are strangling the Gaza Strip." — Fawzi Barhoum, spokesman for Hamas.
Egyptian Army Blocked Hamas Attacks in the Sinai
The Kuwaiti paper Al Rai is quoting senior Egyptian military sources claiming that Egyptian forces have stopped a terror attack by the Izz ad-Din...
Egypt Crushes Hamas, Plans All-Out War on Sinai Terrorists
Israel, for a change, can sit back, enjoy the show and watch Egypt do what the world would not let the IDF do – massive destruction of Hamas smuggling tunnels and all-out war against terror in the Sinai.
Israel, for a change, can sit back, enjoy the show and watch Egypt do what the world would not let the IDF do – massive destruction of Hamas smuggling tunnels and all-out war against terror in the Sinai.
The Egyptian military demolished hundreds of smuggling tunnels in and out of Hamas-controlled Gaza Sunday and is preparing for an all-our onslaught of Hamas, Al Qaeda and other terrorists in the Sinai, Egyptian media reported.
The Egyptian offensive is a political and military shock to Hamas, with reverberations in Ramallah and Washington, on the eve of yet another attempt by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to re-ignite the “peace process.”
“The reduction in smuggling will make it difficult for Hamas to maintain the level of its revenues, and therefore it will be hard pressed to contain the protests against its rule,” according to the Institute of National Security Studies (INSS). “It will also be difficult to infiltrate weapons into Gaza, mainly enhanced rockets and surface-to-surface missiles.”
The Egyptian Aswat Masriya media outlet reported that 805 tunnels along the smuggling route, centered in the border city of Rafiah, were destroyed. Most of the tunnels have been used to smuggle fuel into Gaza.
The Egyptian army will also close the Rafiah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip “indefinitely,” an official source told Egyptian newspaper al-Masry al-Youm. It placed a severe siege on Hamas but without a peep from the international community, which still condemns Israel for the maritime embargo that is aimed at preventing the import of terrorists and weapons from the sea.
Terrorists in Rafiah targeted a military checkpoint Saturday, but no casualties were reported, and Egypt opened the Rafiah border crossing for four hours Saturday to allow humanitarian cases to cross the border.
The tunnels have been a key route for terrorists to travel freely back and forth to the Sinai Peninsula and establish terrorist outposts aimed at staking out bases for attack on Egyptian tourist areas, such as El Arish, as well as urban areas.
The army killed at least five terrorists on Friday, but Egyptian media reported a larger-scale offensive is in the works after an attempted assassination of Second Field Army commander Maj. Gen. Ahmed Wasfy on Wednesday. Egypt is using heavy arms and warplanes, maneuvers that are prohibited under the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty of 1979 without Israel’s approval.
With the unstable and radical anti-Israel Muslim Brotherhood out of power, thanks to the military “impeachment” or coup – take your pick – Israel is not blocking any offense,
“Security sources confirmed that Israel does not mind that the Egyptian forces use heavy artillery and warplanes during the operation which is expected to start very soon” military sources confirmed to the official television on Saturday. Official added, “The army had decided to cleanse the Sinai of armed gangs and terrorists "The operation will continue until it reaches its objectives, which are not only military but also aim to develop the Sinai.”
Meanwhile, state media have reported Friday that two Egyptian Apache helicopters hovered over olive groves south of El-Arish before they fired shells at bunkers of Jihadist gunmen who were preparing to attack army checkpoints.
The Egyptian Air Force on Saturday sent in two Apache helicopters to gun down jihadists after it received intelligence information that they were hiding in olive groves and preparing to attack military checkpoints.
On Friday, an Egyptian helicopter was seen in the skies over Gaza for the first time since the Six-Day War in 1967.
The Hamas terrorist organization is an offspring of the Muslim Brotherhood and therefore is a natural enemy of the military that ousted Mohammed Morsi two weeks ago. Hams has denied Egyptian military statements that its soldiers jailed 32 Hamas terrorists and arrested dozens others in the Sinai Peninsula last week.
Hamas figuratively shot itself in the head last August when it mounted a severe attack on the Egyptian army, killing 16 soldiers near Rafiah in a multi-pronged attack that was intended to continue into Israel but was foiled at the last minute by the IDF.
Ever since, Hamas has been an undeclared enemy, and even the Morsi regime was suspicious of it.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority also is benefiting from Hamas’ miseries but is suppressing its joy because Hamas has widespread support among Arabs in Judea and Samaria who are fed up with chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Any moves by the Secretary of State Kerry to win some kind of a forum between Israeli and Palestinian Authority are a useless exercise without the inclusion of Gaza.
Another fallout of the offensive against Hamas might be negative for Israel in the near-term.
“The motivation of Hamas and jihadi elements from Sinai to launch attacks against Israel is increasing,” INSS thinks.
Report: Egypt in Undeclared War on Hamas, Kills 30, Arrests 200
Hamas is on the run. Virtually boycotted by Abbas, hated by Assad and distrusted by Iran and a diagnosed by Israel as a cancer, Egypt reportedly has killed 30 Hamas terrorists in the Sinai.
Hamas Brings Tunnel Smuggling Know-How to Syrian Rebels
One of the big winners in the war in Syria could be Hamas, at the expense of Abbas. Hamas not only is fighting with rebels but also is reportedly building smuggling tunnels for an attack on Damascus.
Hamas: Egypt Never Steered Us into Peace with Israel
This could be Hamas attempt to make things harder for Morsi in his flirtation with the U.S.