Egyptian attack helicopters went into action Wednesday morning, Aug. 8, firing missiles to break up pitched battles between Salafi Bedouin gunmen and the three Egyptian positions and checkpoints they attacked overnight at Sheikh Zuwayed east of El Arish. Witnesses report at least 20 Salafists killed and some Egyptian casualties among officers and men. DEBKAfile: The Egyptian army has so far avoided offensive action against the terrorists and their strongholds at Jebel Hilal and Al-Mahdia in the Sinai mountains. Tehran gave Bashar Assad its strongest avowal of support yet Tuesday, Aug. 7, while heaping threats on the heads of his enemies, especially the US, Turkey and Israel. Saeed Jalili, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, sat alongside the Syrian ruler in Damascus at the end of their talks and vowed not to let Iran’s “close partnership with the Syrian leadership to be shaken by the uprising or external foes” or the “axis of resistance (Iran, Syria, Hizballah) be broken.” Assad pledged to purge Syria of terror. The initial Egyptian and Israeli accounts of the attacks in which 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed and the Israeli border crashed Sunday night, Aug. 5, don’t match up: Egypt points the finger at the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip; Israel at Sinai salafists. DEBKAfile postulates a third option: Tehran may have harnessed its Gaza Strip proxies and a Sinai al Qaeda cell for coordinated attacks on Egyptian and Israeli military targets to avenge Al Qaeda’s enlistment to the Western-Arab-backed revolt against Bashar Assad. Monday, Aug. 6, the head of Iran’s National Security Council Saeed Jalili touched down in Beirut shortly after Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani declared: "The fire that has been ignited in Syria will take the fearful (Israelis) with it. Jalili (not Larijani as misreported earlier) came for urgent on-the-spot coordination with Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah before continuing Tuesday to Damascus. They discussed ways of stamping Iran’s mark on Syria after Bashar Assad’s exit. Military plans against Israel are part of their schemes.
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Wednesday, 8 August 2012
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report August 8, 2012, 9:37 AM (GMT+02:00)
North Sinai - a war zone
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Jalili in Damascus underscores Iran’s commitment to Assad
August 7, 2012, 9:20 PM (GMT+02:00)
Saeed Saeed Jalili and Bashar Assad - closer than ever
August 6, 2012, 9:22 AM (GMT+02:00)
Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz inspects terror vehicle
High Iranian official in Beirut for urgent talks with Hizballah on Syria, Israel
August 7, 2012, 1:40 PM (GMT+02:00)
Khamenei's emissary breaks fast with Nasrallah
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