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	MEMRI Daily: August 29, 2012    MEMRI | MEMRI TV | JIHAD AND TERRORISM THREAT MONITOR | SOUTH ASIA STUDIES PROJECT
	Voices In Egypt Accuse Hamas Of Responsibility For Attack On Troops In Rafah Retired Egyptian General Abd Al-Hamid Umran: Egypt Should Obtain Nuclear Weapons To Deter Israel Special Dispatch No. 4920 Voices In Egypt Accuse Hamas Of Responsibility For Attack On Troops In Rafah On August 5, 2012, armed terrorists from jihadi organizations opened fire on Egyptian soldiers who were breaking their Ramadan fast at a military post in the city of Rafah. After killing 16 soldiers, the terrorists seized two Egyptian armored vehicles and rode them towards the Kerem Shalom border crossing, where they were stopped by the Israeli air force. The attack prompted the Egyptians to launch "Operation Eagle" to purge Sinai of terrorists, during which they killed dozens of terrorists in northern Sinai and blocked dozens of the hundreds of tunnels connecting Sinai with the Gaza Strip.  The terrorist attack caused a strain in Egypt-Hamas relations. While Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi refrained from blaming the attack on any specific party, and the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) movement blamed Israel, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) suggested that Hamas may have been involved in the attack. The SCAF's official response to the incident noted that the attackers had been assisted by terrorists inside Gaza who had fired mortars at the border crossing during the attack. Consequently, following the funerals of the soldiers, Egyptians demonstrated against Mursi and the MB, holding them partly responsible for the attack due to their ties with the Gaza Palestinians. In addition, claims were made in the Egyptian press that the attack had been carried out by the Gaza-based Salafi organization Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad, and that one of the founders of this organization, Abu Al-Walid Al-Maqdisi, was freed from prison by Hamas on August 2, 2012, only three days before the attack.  According to the reports, among the members of this organization are Egyptian convicts who escaped from prison during the Egyptian revolution, and were later trained by extremist groups in Gaza, such as Jundallah. It was also reported that Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad regards the Egyptian authorities and society as apostate, and therefore sanctions the killing of Egyptian army and security personnel, and that the group recently test fired long-range missiles in Sinai. Egyptian military expert Sayf Al-Yazal said that six takfiri organizations, including the Gaza-based Jaysh Al-Islam, had carried out the Rafah attack after three months of planning. Military expert Hussam Sweilam claimed that the attack had been perpetrated by several jihad organizations present in Sinai and Gaza, including Liwa Al-Quds and Kataib Al-Qassam, with Hamas' knowledge, and that Iran and other foreign elements had financed the extremists.     It should be noted that criticism of Hamas was voiced in Egypt even before the Rafah incident, after Hamas Prime Minister Isma'il Haniya said, during his last visit to Cairo, that Sinai was and will remain Egyptian soil and that Hamas and all Palestinians are part of Sinai's defense. This statement caused discomfort in Egypt, with many writers hurrying to clarify that Egypt must deal with its own problems, not with the problems of others. On July 28, the Egyptian daily Roz Al-Yousuf even warned of a possible terrorist attack in Sinai by jihadi elements, based on a number of factors, including the easing of restrictions on the passage of Palestinians through the Rafah crossing, the purchase of land in northern Sinai by Palestinians identified with Hamas, and the increased aid pouring into Gaza from Egypt, including hundreds of tankers carrying diesel and gasoline, as well as humanitarian convoys.    After the attack, Mursi was criticized on Facebook for his recent meetings with Hamas officials, and calls were made to take revenge on Gazan Palestinians. Egyptian oppositionists in northern Sinai even attacked humanitarian aid convoys on their way to the Gaza tunnels. Hamas denied any involvement in the attack, and expressed its willingness to assist Egypt in the investigation and to maintain security coordination with it on a permanent basis. Egypt demanded that Hamas surrender three members of its military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, suspected of providing weapons and logistic aid to extremist groups in Sinai; Hamas consented to this, on condition that the suspects be questioned in Gaza, rather than Egypt, in order to ensure they would not be tortured. Palestinian elements called on Mursi not to emulate Mubarak's policy of besieging Gaza. To read the full report click here. Special Dispatch No. 4919 Retired Egyptian General Abd Al-Hamid Umran: Egypt Should Obtain Nuclear Weapons To Deter Israel Following are excerpts from a TV program featuring retired Egyptian General Abd Al-Hamid Umran, which aired on Tahrir TV on August 6, 2012. To view this clip on MEMRI TV click here. Abd Al-Hamid Umran: "There can be no Egyptian national security without an Egyptian nuclear program. An Egyptian nuclear program – let's call it peaceful for the sake of argument – is about uranium enrichment." To read the full report click here.