For all his faults and the many significant flaws in his dictatorship in Egypt, one thing Hosni Mubarak did achieve was the isolation of the extremist Islamic regime in Gaza, knowing full well that they are a proxy militia for the Islamic Republic of Iran. With Mubarak now consigned to history the western border in Sinai and with Gaza is a potential achilles heel for Israel.
Two incidents in recent days have served to remind us of the inherent danger to Israeli lives that this instability has brought to our doorstep. On Tuesday, the Israeli navy acting on intelligence reports, intercepted a Liberian registered cargo ship called the ‘Victoria’. The ship had set sail from the port of Latakia in Syria before docking at the port of Mersin in Turkey. It is understood to have been bound for Alexandria in Egypt.
On boarding the vessel the Israeli military soon found a 50 tonnes arms cache that had been hidden behind legitimate freight (and of course was not listed in the ship’s manifest in direct contravention of international maritime law). The weapons were bound for Gaza, having originated in Iran. The captured weaponry included:
2,600 mortar shells, 6 anti-ship missiles, 2 radar systems manufactured in England (a not insignificant finding), 2 rocket launchers, 2 hydraulic mounting cranes for radar system, and nearly 67,000 Kalashnikov bullets
These weapons, had they arrived in Gaza, would have extended Hamas’ missile firing capability to the periphery of Tel Aviv itself. This capturing of the munitions on board the ‘Victoria’ is not an isolated incident and those that question the naval embargo of Gaza should bear this in mind before being duped into sending flotillas to ‘liberate’ Gaza as was the intention of the Mavi Marmara last year. They should also be aware that even the UN accepts that most overseas aid sent to Gaza is immediately confiscated by Hamas who then sell it and profiteer from it to line their own pockets.
When trying to understand the political direction of Hamas it should always be borne in my mind that this oppressive regime is paid for, sponsored by and answers to Iran. Gaza is effectively an Iranian satellite state. The fanatical hatred engendered by the indoctrination of Palestinians youth, amongst whom a minority are prepared to willingly do the most unspeakable things, was revealed in the most horrific of forms in the terrible murder of the Fogel family in Itamar last week.
Whilst I oppose the developments of settlements such as Itamar and disagree fervently with the presence of the Jewish settlers in that area, there are few words that can possibly do justice to the shocking murder of five members of one family as they slept; the stabbing to death of the parents, then of the three children, the youngest a baby girl aged just three months, has left people on both sides of the divide in utter shock.
Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank that is far from innocent of degrees of incitement and indoctrination against Jews and against Israel, did however make the following statement to Israel radio in light of the horrifying incident.
Abbas said: “A human being is not capable of something like that. Scenes like these - the murder of infants and children and a woman slaughtered - cause any person endowed with humanity to hurt and to cry.”
I am certain that most Palestinians would echo those thoughts, but those words fall on deaf ears amongst the fanatical, Islamist minority who agree with Iran and with Hamas, that Jews should be eliminated from the face of the earth and the State of Israel obliterated and removed from the map.
Then yesterday Egyptian officials seized five vehicles heading for Gaza having originated in Sudan. The trucks contained a significant number of rocket propelled grenades, mortars, rifles and explosives. Whilst the find is very disturbing, it does at least indicate that there are those in control in the new Egyptian authorities that also appreciate the need to keep such weaponry out of the hands of Hamas and their fanatical, jihadist supporters.
It remains is in the interests of both Israel and of the burgeoning democratic Egypt, to ensure that Islamic fundamentalism doesn’t take root right on our mutual doorstep.
Two incidents in recent days have served to remind us of the inherent danger to Israeli lives that this instability has brought to our doorstep. On Tuesday, the Israeli navy acting on intelligence reports, intercepted a Liberian registered cargo ship called the ‘Victoria’. The ship had set sail from the port of Latakia in Syria before docking at the port of Mersin in Turkey. It is understood to have been bound for Alexandria in Egypt.
On boarding the vessel the Israeli military soon found a 50 tonnes arms cache that had been hidden behind legitimate freight (and of course was not listed in the ship’s manifest in direct contravention of international maritime law). The weapons were bound for Gaza, having originated in Iran. The captured weaponry included:
2,600 mortar shells, 6 anti-ship missiles, 2 radar systems manufactured in England (a not insignificant finding), 2 rocket launchers, 2 hydraulic mounting cranes for radar system, and nearly 67,000 Kalashnikov bullets
These weapons, had they arrived in Gaza, would have extended Hamas’ missile firing capability to the periphery of Tel Aviv itself. This capturing of the munitions on board the ‘Victoria’ is not an isolated incident and those that question the naval embargo of Gaza should bear this in mind before being duped into sending flotillas to ‘liberate’ Gaza as was the intention of the Mavi Marmara last year. They should also be aware that even the UN accepts that most overseas aid sent to Gaza is immediately confiscated by Hamas who then sell it and profiteer from it to line their own pockets.
When trying to understand the political direction of Hamas it should always be borne in my mind that this oppressive regime is paid for, sponsored by and answers to Iran. Gaza is effectively an Iranian satellite state. The fanatical hatred engendered by the indoctrination of Palestinians youth, amongst whom a minority are prepared to willingly do the most unspeakable things, was revealed in the most horrific of forms in the terrible murder of the Fogel family in Itamar last week.
Whilst I oppose the developments of settlements such as Itamar and disagree fervently with the presence of the Jewish settlers in that area, there are few words that can possibly do justice to the shocking murder of five members of one family as they slept; the stabbing to death of the parents, then of the three children, the youngest a baby girl aged just three months, has left people on both sides of the divide in utter shock.
Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank that is far from innocent of degrees of incitement and indoctrination against Jews and against Israel, did however make the following statement to Israel radio in light of the horrifying incident.
Abbas said: “A human being is not capable of something like that. Scenes like these - the murder of infants and children and a woman slaughtered - cause any person endowed with humanity to hurt and to cry.”
I am certain that most Palestinians would echo those thoughts, but those words fall on deaf ears amongst the fanatical, Islamist minority who agree with Iran and with Hamas, that Jews should be eliminated from the face of the earth and the State of Israel obliterated and removed from the map.
Then yesterday Egyptian officials seized five vehicles heading for Gaza having originated in Sudan. The trucks contained a significant number of rocket propelled grenades, mortars, rifles and explosives. Whilst the find is very disturbing, it does at least indicate that there are those in control in the new Egyptian authorities that also appreciate the need to keep such weaponry out of the hands of Hamas and their fanatical, jihadist supporters.
It remains is in the interests of both Israel and of the burgeoning democratic Egypt, to ensure that Islamic fundamentalism doesn’t take root right on our mutual doorstep.
RSS Feed