For Egypt, avenging Sinai attack may include striking Gaza

[grossproffit]

Cairo has already begun to punish the Islamic State for Wednesday’s massive assault; Hamas, which may have supplied anti-aircraft weapons to the militants, may not be immune either.

<snip>

It began Wednesday when the Egyptian army assassinated nine Muslim Brotherhood officials, including a former parliament member who, Egypt claims, was involved in attacks.

And it will continue with the executions of mid-level members of the organization who have received death sentences. And of course, heavy airstrikes on populated areas in Sinai. It can be said definitively that some of the Bedouin tribes and residents of north Sinai are collaborating with terrorists, and the army will retaliate.

Hamas will also pay a price. Only a few days ago, Egypt opened the Rafah crossing, in part due to the improvement of the security situation in Sinai. This will soon end. The army knows that some senior officials of the Hamas military wing, who operate without the approval of its political wing, are collaborating with the Islamic State in Sinai, mostly for financial renumeration.

According to an Egyptian source, some 200 militants took part in the attack, utilizing a large number of anti-aircraft weapons in the first hours, which necessitated the use of F-16 fighter jets instead of Apache helicopters as the Egyptians responded.
Those weapons, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, came in through the Gaza Strip.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/for-egypt-avenging-sinai-attack-may-include-striking-gaza/

[hack89]

1. Hamas is playing a dangerous game.

Egypt has good intelligence in Gaza and plenty of smart bombs.

[Agnosticsherbet]

2. Now this will be a story to watch.

Activist responses will be an interesting read, should Egypt deicde to strike in the Gaza.

[Fozzledick]

3. You can be sure the usual suspects will find an excuse to blame Israel.

[bemildred]

4. This idea seems to be popular mainly in the Israeli press.

Like this: Is Muslim Brotherhood going jihadist?

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Analysis-Is-Muslim-Brotherhood-going-jihadist-407900

Which try to conflate ISIS with Hamas/MB, and/or get al Sisi to attack Hamas as part of MB/ISIS/The-guys-he-hates-in-the-Sinai. Which is a mistake, MB and ISIS are mortal enemies, those guys Wednesday were trying to attack Gaza, to get into Gaza. You have to understand how crazy they are.

And al Sisi has his hands full as it is, the one good thing is that there seems to be plenty of wheat on the market, so maybe there will not be food riots or like that.

[bemildred]

5. Hamas Linked to Islamic State Assault on Egyptians, Says Israel

Jerusalem: A senior Israeli officer said on Thursday the militant Palestinian movement Hamas played a part in attacks by the Islamic State group on Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula.

"In the latest attacks Hamas gave support with weapons and organisation to groups supporting IS," Major General Yoav Mordechai, said in an interview in Arabic with Al-Jazeera television.

The Egyptian military said 17 soldiers and 100 militants had been killed but medical and security officials said the death toll was at least 70 people, mostly soldiers. Dozens of jihadists also died.

The Israeli army on Thursday ordered the closure until further notice of Route 12, a desert highway along the Sinai border, "in light of the current situation."

http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/hamas-linked-to-islamic-state-assault-on-egyptians-says-israel-777710

[bemildred]

6. Expert: Arab Armies 'Falling Apart,' IDF Will Have to Fight ISIS

Israel's former ambassador to Egypt, Zvi Mazel, currently a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), believes that the Egyptian army is not going to be able to successfully fight ISIS. In the end, he believes, the IDF is going to have to do the job.

“The Egyptian army has not collapsed, and it is very large, with 600,000 soldiers,” said Mazel. “But for two years they have been fighting guerrillas in Sinai, unsuccessfully. They are just not experienced enough in guerrilla warfare.”

Eventually, it is very possible that ISIS will take over Sinai – placing them along Israel's longest border. If that happens, the IDF is going to have to fight ISIS on its own. “Already some of ISIS is in Sinai, operating near the Israeli border,” said Mazel.

The problem is not just in Egypt, but in nearly all Arab countries. “They have huge armies but they fall apart in the face of a threat from a relatively small group,” said Mazel. “Unlike in the north, where there are some groups that hold Hezbollah back from opening a front against us, ISIS are true fanatics who are looking forward to fighting Israel.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/197630

[leftynyc]

7. If they (Egypt and others) have

the superior manpower and weapons (likely sold to them by the US), then there is some other dynamic happening here. Are they inept cowards who just like to look like a military force or are they more sympathetic to their "enemy" than we are figuring? You can be sure that if isis winds up in gaza, Israel will bring down the hammer hard and that wouldn't really be good for anyone.

[bemildred]

8. It's a job. When things get sticky they quit. nt

[6chars]

9. it is a tough place to fight a decentralized terrorist group

apparently egypt doesn't have very good human intelligence about ISIS in Sinai. haven't heard anything about egyptian soldiers failing to do their jobs, unlike iraq. would have been better to not let them get established there. much of that happened in 2012-2013.

[bemildred]

10. Quite a few of them are getting killed while on duty, yes.

The jihadis are getting more effective as time goes on too, the attacks get bigger, the casualty count gets bigger too.

[bemildred]

11. How Egypt lost Sinai long before the ISIS attacks

The coordinated attack on Wednesday morning against at least a dozen Egyptian military targets in northern Sinai, including the use of massive car bombs, followed the pattern of similar operations carried out by ISIS in Syria and Iraq, which allowed them to capture large areas and towns from the demoralized and dismantled Syrian and Iraqi armies.

The successful transplant of these tactics to Sinai, landing a devastating blow on the Egyptian army that in theory is much better organized and equipped, should not be seen as a surprise when factoring in that the attack took place in a region that Cairo has long ceased to rule in any real sense.

For months, access to the desert peninsula has been forbidden to journalists, especially foreign reporters. They are stopped at checkpoints near the Suez Canal and sent back to Cairo. But prior visits to Sinai, conducted between the 2011 revolution and the recent closure to journalists, clearly showed that Egyptian army reinforcements (made with Israel's quiet approval since they exceeded the military forces level allowed in Sinai by the two countries' peace treaty) were inefficient.

Egypt's military solution to the increased jihadist activity in Sinai was largely limited to setting larger and more numerous checkpoints along the narrow northern coastal highway. Elite Egyptian units with relatively advanced American weaponry are rarely sent far from their positions around Cairo. Instead, battalions of illiterate conscripts with outdated Soviet-era APC's and tanks were deployed to Sinai. The officers remain in town barracks, while sergeants command the checkpoints and at night, huddle inside the APCs.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.664336

[bemildred]

12. Israel blames latest rocket fire on IS-linked terrorists in Sinai

Two rockets fired into southern Israel on Friday afternoon were launched came from the Sinai peninsula in a deliberate attempt by Islamic State-affiliated terror groups there to draw Israel into the their fight with Egypt, Israeli security officials said.

The two rockets exploded in open ground inside Israeli territory near the Gaza Strip, causing little damage and no casualties. Israeli residents in the area said they heard a third rocket land, but this was not immediately confirmed.

Israel, which routinely responds to rocket fire from Hamas-controlled Gaza with counterstrikes at Hamas targets, did not immediately respond to Friday’s rockets. Security officials quoted by Israel’s Channel 10 news said the launches apparently constituted an attempt by the IS-affiliated group Wilayat Sinai in the Sinai to draw Israel into the fighting there.

The IS-linked group launched a major assault on the Egyptian army, in turn prompting Egyptian counterattacks, in which well over 100 people have been killed in the last three days. The clashes are the area’s bloodiest fighting in decades.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-blames-latest-rocket-fire-on-is-linked-terrorists-in-sinai/

[6chars]

13. If true, ISIS is trying to draw Israel in.

that would be a great recruitment tool for them.

[bemildred]

14. Yep, that's it. nt