Israel and Egypt will not initiate security sweep without mutual agreement
An expert on military studies dismissed Israeli statements that it was preparing to launch a military operation along the Egypt-Gaza border to destroy tunnels reportedly used by Hamas and other factions to smuggle weapons and drugs to and from the Palestinian territories.
Israel is releasing continued statements on the border issue, but I reiterate that Israel will not take any military action without consulting Egypt first, Dr. Mohammed Kadry Saeed, an expert on military studies at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies told The Daily Star Egypt.
At a session of the Israeli Political-Security cabinet yesterday, officials pledged to increase cooperation with Egypt in order to reduce the smuggling of war materiel, according to a statement issued by Israel s Foreign Ministry and given to The Daily Star Egypt.
The cabinet also pledged to step up their efforts against Hamas in order to foil their efforts to strengthen themselves, prevent terrorist acts from the Gaza Strip, and halt the firing of missiles and mortars into Israeli territory, the statement said.
However, Israeli officials moved yesterday to quell concerns in Egypt.
Nothing is going to be too dramatic – we re going to do military operations in Gaza to make it more difficult to smuggle weapons, said Amira Oron, a spokeswoman with the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
She added that the Israeli government wasn t going to alter any existing agreements with Egypt, but she said Israel would like to see better results in terms of Egypt s role in stopping the smuggling of illicit weapons into the Gaza strip.
Oron said Israeli intelligence probes have discovered that heavier and increasingly dangerous weaponry has been entering Gaza, including anti-aircraft armaments which could change the equilibrium in the region.
The situation is getting worse, she told The Daily Star Egypt.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said his forces were preparing to launch a military operation near the Philadelphi Corridor, an 11 km stretch that is only 100 meters wide. His statements followed an earlier report in the Israeli daily Maariv, which quoted sources saying the air force would use smart bombs to destroy the tunnels.
But Kadry insists no action can be taken without Egyptian approval.
“The reason for this is because there is a framework for interaction between the two countries, which is the peace accords. The accords are the cornerstone of dealings between Egypt and Israel.
On Tuesday, news media quoted eyewitness reports that dozens of Israeli armored vehicles had massed at the border with Gaza and a military spokesman ordered Palestinians to evacuate an area close to the frontier with Egypt.
But on Wednesday Israel s influential security cabinet ruled out ordering any immediate large-scale ground operation in the Gaza Strip, according to Agence France-Presse, quoting an anonymous military source.
The meeting ended without a decision being taken on expanding operations underway, in keeping with the recommendations of Defense Minister Amir Peretz, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, an operation in Gaza that killed six Palestinians and wounded 33 will continue until security goals are met, Olmert’s office said in a statement.
On Monday, President Hosni Mubarak denied media reports that 5,000 members of the police force had been sent to the border region.
Dr. Abdel-Aleem Mohammed, head of Israeli studies at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies told The Daily Star Egypt that there is no clarity or transparency from the Egyptian side concerning the border issue. Sometimes words replace actions and this is a sign of the regression of Egypt s role in the region, whether towards Israel or the Arab world.
The various media reports and denials from both the Israeli and Egyptian governments seem to contradict one another and may simply be acts of posturing and saber-rattling, experts say.
This situation does not have any of the signs that indicate it will reflect any danger. Said.?
Israel can speak all it wants, but they realize that if they do something there might be an Egyptian military response. That s why it s doubtful that anything will happen without Egyptian consultation and approval, Saeed said. “There is a general and tacit agreement between the two countries that public opinion is a recognizable factor. They try not to embarrass each other.
