Israel Steps Up Sinai Travel Warning; Alert Increased
IDF Radio, Tel Aviv, in Hebrew 0500 25 Jan 08
Text of report by Israel Defence Forces Radio on 25 January
Defence Minister Ehud Baraq instructed to equip the IDF soldiers manning the crossing points between Israel and the Gaza Strip with anti-riot equipment. Israeli sources are concerned that thousands of Palestinians will arrive at one of the crossing points and try to cross the border in order to leave the Gaza Strip, on lines with what they have done in the Rafah crossing.
The IDF and police forces along the border with Egypt have been bolstered in order to prevent Palestinians who crossed the Rafah crossing to infiltrate into Israel. Defence establishment sources are concerned that terrorists will try to enter Israel via the Sinai in order to stage attacks or kidnap Israelis and transfer them to Gaza.
In the wake of the passage of Palestinians via the Rafah crossing, the Counter-Terrorism Bureau at the Prime Minister's Office stepped up the level of warning relating to travel to the Sinai. Reserves Brigadier General Nitzan Ro'e, head of the Counter- Terrorism Bureau, told IDF Radio this morning he possesses intelligence information indicating that terrorists have concrete plans to perpetrate terrorist attacks against Israelis in the Sinai. According to Ro'e, the Egyptians could have sent additional forces to Rafah, receiving Israel's permission for this - which is required by the peace agreement between the two countries - in a bid to halt the passage of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip:
[Begin Ro'e recording] I assume that if the Egyptians had asked our permission for bolstering their forces in a bid to return the situation to its previous state, we would have accepted their request. I have more than a hunch that this is not a matter of ability, but something a little more complicated, because we know that when the Egyptians want to do something, they are able to accomplish it. [end recording]
Israel Steps Up Sinai Travel Warning; Alert Increased
IDF Radio, Tel Aviv, in Hebrew 0500 25 Jan 08
Text of report by Israel Defence Forces Radio on 25 January
Defence Minister Ehud Baraq instructed to equip the IDF soldiers manning the crossing points between Israel and the Gaza Strip with anti-riot equipment. Israeli sources are concerned that thousands of Palestinians will arrive at one of the crossing points and try to cross the border in order to leave the Gaza Strip, on lines with what they have done in the Rafah crossing.
The IDF and police forces along the border with Egypt have been bolstered in order to prevent Palestinians who crossed the Rafah crossing to infiltrate into Israel. Defence establishment sources are concerned that terrorists will try to enter Israel via the Sinai in order to stage attacks or kidnap Israelis and transfer them to Gaza.
In the wake of the passage of Palestinians via the Rafah crossing, the Counter-Terrorism Bureau at the Prime Minister's Office stepped up the level of warning relating to travel to the Sinai. Reserves Brigadier General Nitzan Ro'e, head of the Counter- Terrorism Bureau, told IDF Radio this morning he possesses intelligence information indicating that terrorists have concrete plans to perpetrate terrorist attacks against Israelis in the Sinai. According to Ro'e, the Egyptians could have sent additional forces to Rafah, receiving Israel's permission for this - which is required by the peace agreement between the two countries - in a bid to halt the passage of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip:
[Begin Ro'e recording] I assume that if the Egyptians had asked our permission for bolstering their forces in a bid to return the situation to its previous state, we would have accepted their request. I have more than a hunch that this is not a matter of ability, but something a little more complicated, because we know that when the Egyptians want to do something, they are able to accomplish it. [end recording]
Israel Steps Up Sinai Travel Warning; Alert Increased
