Thank you Pres Obama.
Sinai peacekeeping force commander warns of weapons smuggling to Gaza
Commander of the Multinational Force and Observers says SA-24 surface-to-air missiles have made their way from Libya to Sinai, and may potentially be used against Israeli air operations.
The commander of the Multinational Force and Observers in Sinai said this week that advanced Russian-made missiles were being smuggled from Libya, through Egypt, into the Gaza Strip.
Speaking on Monday at a conference of the Evans Program for Conflict Resolution of Tel Aviv University, Maj. Gen. Warren James Whiting said that weapons smuggling is one of the biggest challenges facing his troops. He said that Russian-made SA-24 shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles, which were sold to Libya in 2004, are being smuggled into the Gaza Strip through Egypt.
The SA-24, considered an upgraded version of the SA-18, is both highly accurate and deadly, with the ability to bring down aircrafts flying at an altitude of 11,000 feet.
Such weapons could endanger flight in the Sinai area and could potentially be used by militants in Gaza against the Israel Air Force.
Whiting related that in October 2011 an Iranian-made Fajr-5 missile landed 26 kilometers southwest of the MFO’s northern base, in Al-Jura. He said it may have been fired by militants to test the limit of its range.
Israeli defense officials believe that advanced weapons, in particular anti-tank missiles and long-range rockets, have made their way to the Gaza Strip. They have also noted in the past that SA-7 anti-aircraft missiles were brought into the territory during the civil war in Libya, and in its aftermath.
Citing statements by Israeli officials, Reuters reported in August on the smuggling from Eastern Libya of SA-7 missiles and rocket-propelled grenades overland, into Gaza.
A missile was fired at an Israel Defense Forces helicopter hovering at relatively low altitude in the course of the coordinated attack near Israel’s border with Egypt, at Ein Netafim, also in August 2011. The pilots evaded the missile attack by changing their course.
A senior IDF officer recently sketched out a few of the supply routes for weapons, including from Iran to Lebanon and Syria, via Iraq; from Libya to Sinai, and from Sudan to Sinai. He described the Egyptian peninsula as “a constant challenge in the next several years.”
The head of the Shin Bet security service, Yoram Cohen, addressing the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Wednesday, said that Libya was “a new gate to hell,” in part because of the large number of missiles and RPGs being smuggled out of that country and into the Gaza Strip, flooding the territory with advanced weapons.
The MFO is deployed in three separate areas across the Sinai peninsula: 350 soldiers from Fiji patrol the northern region, along the border with Israel, while a similar number of Colombian troops are posted farther south. An additional contingent of U.S. soldiers is deployed in the southern tip of the peninsula, along the Suez Canal.
Whiting, who commands a force of around 2,300 soldiers and unarmed civilian monitors, said attacks on the MFO have escalated over the past year. He said so far this year there have been 187 incidents of live fire and 37 incidents of stone-throwing directed at his troops. In 2011 a total of 344 live-fire incidents were recorded, while in 2010 there were only 38 such incidents.
To the phoenix – good questions.
Israeli elites are too concerned about unpleasant conversation while on vacation in Cairo, Athens, Paris, London or NY City I suppose. Places I really have no desire to see xcept Athens nor engage the people living there about their opinions. These are dying cities. Dying financially, bankrupt and facing to deal with young muslims.
In fact the West is dying. The East knows it that is why they are buying gold and silver. Japan and China are doing business without the US dollar as the intermediary and the East is about to launch their own SWIFT system.
So who gives a crap about the West?
Israelis have lost their mojo. Real estate is crazy expensive. Cost of living is insane and the government politicians are very well paid.
It is truly ” post zionist ” in attitude.
I agree with you. Attack the Sinai and Gaza and the West Bank like wild jackals and annex Golan and let’s see what happens.
Of course I know what the headlines will be in the NY Times, BBC CNN,,, but who cares? no body reads them. Ratings and circulation is dropping like stones. MSNBC audience has plummeted.
I know what will happen. Muslims will parade in the streets screaming and demand that their govts stop this. The only countries that concern Israel are Turkey, Egypt and Iran. The biggies. The rest want nothing to do with this eternal war. The Saudis can only finance Jew hating sites like antiwar.com, RT.com and so many more with little audiences and 2) Universities such as Columbia and Rutgers.
With each passing day the West is more and more in debt and the East is accumulating more wealth.
Within days, the USA will cross the 16 trillion mark – HAPPY SWEET SIXTEEN !
1) The U.S. had 50 000 of its young people killed and hundreds of thousands more wounded in the Vietnam war, departed defeated, abandoned those who had risked all to assist; and this all when they were the strongest military power in the world!! The U.S. of course was not in danger of losing its own country. This is the advice and path Israel is following; but for Israel the consequence….
2) What are other countries troops doing on Israel’s borders? Anyone know?
@ James B – Montreal:
this is just one more commentary that you post, to which all i could say is “ditto”…
it is like seeing a train wreck in slow motion.
what friggin’ difference does it make what the west says and or thinks?!?!?!?
if you’re a tiny little island like cyprus, for example, with no military to speak of and no means to fight off the invading muslimes from turkey…ok. shoyn. it is sad but, it is what it is…
but ISRAEL?????
for crying out loud WHY is there so much talk????
just shoot the bastards AND those that abet them in whatever form it takes.
If this is true, then the Israeli PMO should immediately order the IDF to invade the Sinai and order the IAF to commence bombing Gaza.
I cannot see any other response. But Israelis are too busy drooling Madonna too be concerned about this.
It is also amazing how many news reports about the Middle East are from reporters based in Jerusalem ( Rt, FOX, etc..).
Why does Israel allow this? Because it wants to show the West how much of an open society it is?
Jerks. I do not know why I give a crap about Israel sometimes.