Egypt kills One - Updates

The border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip was reopened Monday evening and Egyptian troops are allowing free passage, Palestinian sources told Haaretz. A Palestinian man was killed and at least 44 Gazans and Egyptians were wounded Monday in an exchange of fire that erupted between masked Palestinian gunmen and Egyptian forces at Gaza's border with Egypt, Palestinian medical officials said. [...] The tensions began when the Egyptian guards sealed the border hermetically Monday, not even allowing Egyptians and Gazans who had found themselves on the wrong side of the border to return home. Witnesses said anger boiled over in the late afternoon as people on both sides waited for permission to cross over. Gazans started throwing stones at the Egyptians, and Hamas did not interfere. Youths began pelting an Egyptian command post in the area, and forces there first threw stones back, and then fired tear gas. Medics said 26 people were treated for tear gas inhalation. [...] Egyptian police have detained a Palestinian man carrying explosives in the border town of Rafah, security sources said on Monday. [Technisch ergibt der conter-Schmuggel keinen Sinn. Zuerst Tonnen von explosives in den Gazastreifen zu schmuggeln um sie hernach portioniert wieder heraus zu schmuggeln ist überflüssig wie ein Kropf.]

Die Aufarbeitung des heutigen Selbstmordattentats in Dimona erweist sich als Desaster für die israelischen Sicherheitskräfte. Man weiß immer noch sehr wenig über den Ablauf der Tat. Wie von mir bereits gemutmaßt ist die ursprünglich angedachte Egypt-Sinai-Variante keineswegs ein Muß. Am Nachmittag hatte eine al-Aqsa-Quelle noch ausdrücklich bestätigt das die Selbstmordattentäter die Sinai-
Route genommen hätten. [Abu Fouad, a spokesman for the Fatah-allied Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades - which claimed responsibility for the attack - said the operation had been planned for a month, but was made possible after militants violently opened Gaza's border with Egypt on January 23. He said the attackers sneaked into Egypt after the border breach, then crossed into Israel using unspecified private contacts. He added that Dimona was chosen because it has never been hit before.] Am Nachmittag läßt sich jedoch die Hamas verlautbaren das ihr bewaffneter Arm "verantwortlich" für das Attentat gewesen sei und das die Attentäter eine andere Strecke genommen hätten [Zudem: There is a growing assessment within the security establishment that the suicide bombers who perpetrated the attack in Dimona which killed one woman and wounded 38 other people came from Hebron, and not from the Gaza Strip as was earlier claimed by the Fatah, defense officials told the Jerusalem Post on Monday. The officials further said that the terrorists were able to easily infiltrate Israeli territory as the security fence south of Hebron Hills has yet to be built, and there are no obstacles preventing such an infiltration from that point to Dimona. Addressing the question of why the attackers chose to target Dimona and not Beersheba, which is closer in proximity to Hebron, the defense officials raised the possibility that the terrorists had once worked in Dimona, and were therefore more comfortable targeting the city.] Das hierbei einer der Täter auf alle Fälle aus dem Gazastreifen stammt tut wenig zur Sache, durfte ich doch höchstselbstens den gestiegegen Tourismus von Fatah-Größen zwischen Gaza und Westbank hier in diesem blog bewundern. Das die Hamas als Ordnungsmacht die Verantwortung und Übersicht über solche Attacken inne hat ist jedoch unwahrscheinlich. Der entsprechende Bericht ist nicht sehr ergiebig. Dieser Bericht geht noch weiter und hat sehr vernünftige Ansätze: "Security sources believe Dimona terrorists came from West Bank. New security estimates indicate Monday's suicide bombing may have originated in West Bank, not Gaza, despite earlier reports to the contrary. PA officials say terrorists' identity hasn't been ascertained yet." Das Olmertsche Weltbild legt sich in der poltischen Bewertung bereits fest: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged Monday that Israel will not relent in its struggle against terrorism, after a suicide bombing in the southern town of Dimona earlier in the day. Addressing the Knesset, Olmert said that Israel is facing a constant war in the southern part of the country, referring to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. Israel believes the suicide bombers infiltrated into Israel from Egypt after crossing from Gaza into Egypt. Derweil geht die Vertrauensabstimmung über die Winograd-Bewertung Olmerts recht knapp aus: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert won narrow support in the Knesset plenum on Monday during a special session on the final Winograd report. 59 MKs approved a statement made by Olmert in response to the report, while 53 voted against and one abstained. [6 Mks fehlten, wohl Skiurlaub.]

Israelis and Palestinians involved in interfaith contacts recently drafted a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas. The document, whose implementation includes the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, was submitted to the cabinet and to the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip. Rabbi Menachem Froman of the West Bank settlement of Tekoa has for years been involved in interfaith dialogue toward Israeli-Palestinians peace. For several months he has been working closely with Khaled Amayreh, a Hebron-area journalist who is close to Hamas. "Our proposal was presented to the highest political echelon in the Hamas government in Gaza and gained 100-percent approval," Amayreh told Haaretz Sunday, while refusing to name the government officials. Froman said the document was presented to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has yet to respond to it. Even if the attempt turns out to be merely an academic exercise, say Froman and Amayreh, its elements could be used by the Jerusalem and Gaza governments. It does not, for example, include the recognition by Hamas of the State of Israel, instead "recognizing that there are Jews living in the Holy Land," according to Froman. [Kommentar von Richard Silverstein]