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. The Israeli Air Force struck two APCs seized by Sinai Salafis who first stormed an Egyptian post on the Egyptian-Israeli border Sunday night, Aug. 5, killing at least 15 Egyptian commandos, injuring many and kidnapping an unknown number. The gunmen then smashed the APCs through to the Kerem Shalom terminal. The one which got across was destroyed by the IAF. DEBKAfile: This appears to be the first Sinai-based Islamist reprisal against Egyptian troops for an Israeli counter-terror operation in the Gaza Strip. An authoritative US military source toldDEBKAfile Sunday, Aug. 5 that US armed forces stand ready for war with Iran. Without going into who would lead the operation to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, the US or Israel, the US Air Force will undertake to destroy Iran’s Shehab-3 ballistic missile batteries aimed at Israel and Saudi Arabia. The Israeli Air Force would then be left free to tackle the huge rocket arsenals of Syria, the Lebanese Hizballah and the Palestinian Hamas and Jihad Islami. Day by day, new Syrian militias spring up to fight the Assad regime – five in the last 48 hours. They fall into three main categories: a Syrian ethnic minority or another – Kurdish, Turkmen and Muslim Brothers; Islamists streaming in from Libya, the Gaza Strip and Sinai; or rebels groups armed and backed by Arab and Muslim intelligence bodies. US intelligence predicts their number will rise to 100 in weeks. Saturday, MiG fighter jets went into action against rebel positions in Aleppo to break the tie in fighting.; "Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz inspects terror vehicle")
DEBKAfile Special Report; "Egyptian APC seized by terrorists, bombed by Israel")
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report; "Iran's Fateh-110 missile")
DEBKAfile Special Report; "Syrian Air Force bomber-fighters hit Aleppo")
Monday, 6 August 2012
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis August 6, 2012, 9:22 AM (GMT+02:00)
Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz inspects terror vehicle
Salafists kill 15 Egyptian Sinai troops, are stopped crashing Israeli border
August 5, 2012, 11:03 PM (GMT+02:00)
Egyptian APC seized by terrorists, bombed by Israel
Wartime tasks split: US to smash Iran’s missiles, Israel tackle Syria, Hizballah
August 5, 2012, 1:38 PM (GMT+02:00)
Iran's Fateh-110 missile
Syrian fighter jets strike Aleppo, Assad rides crest of disintegrating country
August 4, 2012, 4:04 PM (GMT+02:00)
Syrian Air Force bomber-fighters hit Aleppo
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