Up to their eyeballs
Up to their eyeballs
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Egyptian generals take charge of Gaza Strip
A high-ranking 100-man Egyptian military delegation has taken de facto charge of Palestinian security forces in the Gaza Strip and is handling talks with Hamas to avert an outbreak of terrorist violence.
DEBKAfile’s military sources report General Ibrahim Shukri heads the team of three Egyptian generals and several colonels and majors. The same general also led the probe of the October 15, 2004 al Qaeda Taba bombings. His appointment betokens Cairo’s anxiety over the threat of al Qaeda terror infiltration of the Gaza Strip.
Our sources add that all Palestinian operations, including the deployment of 24 battalions in the evacuated territory are coordinated with Israel indirectly through a direct channel set b y by General Shukri and Israel’s Shin Beit HQ.
A second Egyptian general, Muhammed Ibrahim, is in close communication with the Hamas to guard against wildcat action including gunfire on Israeli targets. General Mustafa Bakri has taken practical command of Palestinian security and intelligence units in Gaza. The other members of the Egyptian team have divided Gaza into sectors and assumed command of the Palestinian battalions.
They have installed their own communications and logistics networks in the Egyptian embassy building in Gaza.
The high-powered Egyptian military presence has all but edged Palestinian chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his ministers out of the game. Egyptian officers in command of the Palestinian units call the interior minister Nasser Yousef by the contemptuous Nasser Yuosif meaning Nasser the Sad Case or Mr. Useless. Israeli officers in dialogue with Palestinian opposite numbers check first with the Egyptian officers for their approval of agreements. [..]
(But in another article Debka reports
" In consequence, American and Israeli terror experts define security in Sinai as out of control.
They look askance at Ariel Sharon’s unheeding determination to put through the military protocol with Egypt and rely on Egyptian border guards units to police the strategic Gaza-Egyptian border and Philadelphi border route. Intelligence sources warn that, having lost control of security in Sinai, the Egyptians can by no reckoning be counted on as a bulwark against the free flow across those key borders of human terrorist traffic and weapons from Sinai into the Gaza Strip. "
Posted by Ted Belman at August 24, 2005 06:17 AM
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Up to their eyeballs
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Egyptian generals take charge of Gaza Strip
A high-ranking 100-man Egyptian military delegation has taken de facto charge of Palestinian security forces in the Gaza Strip and is handling talks with Hamas to avert an outbreak of terrorist violence.
DEBKAfile’s military sources report General Ibrahim Shukri heads the team of three Egyptian generals and several colonels and majors. The same general also led the probe of the October 15, 2004 al Qaeda Taba bombings. His appointment betokens Cairo’s anxiety over the threat of al Qaeda terror infiltration of the Gaza Strip.
Our sources add that all Palestinian operations, including the deployment of 24 battalions in the evacuated territory are coordinated with Israel indirectly through a direct channel set b y by General Shukri and Israel’s Shin Beit HQ.
A second Egyptian general, Muhammed Ibrahim, is in close communication with the Hamas to guard against wildcat action including gunfire on Israeli targets. General Mustafa Bakri has taken practical command of Palestinian security and intelligence units in Gaza. The other members of the Egyptian team have divided Gaza into sectors and assumed command of the Palestinian battalions.
They have installed their own communications and logistics networks in the Egyptian embassy building in Gaza.
The high-powered Egyptian military presence has all but edged Palestinian chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his ministers out of the game. Egyptian officers in command of the Palestinian units call the interior minister Nasser Yousef by the contemptuous Nasser Yuosif meaning Nasser the Sad Case or Mr. Useless. Israeli officers in dialogue with Palestinian opposite numbers check first with the Egyptian officers for their approval of agreements. [..]
(But in another article Debka reports
Posted by Ted Belman at August 24, 2005 06:17 AM