Israel fears ‘multi-front war’ following Egypt border attack

[yankeedoodle]

Israel fears 'multi-front war' following Egypt border attack
The attack by an Egyptian policeman which killed three Israeli soldiers complements recent attacks by resistance forces against Israel from Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon
https://thecradle.co/article-view/25582/israel-fears-multi-front-war-following-egypt-border-attack

When an Egyptian wearing a police uniform killed 3 Israeli soldiers in two separate instances early Saturday 3 June, initial reports suggested a link to a drug smuggling bust carried out by the Israeli military near the border fence area between Israel and Egypt the night before.

However, as additional details emerged, the attacker, who himself was killed Saturday as well, appears to have carried out a well-planned operation targeting Israeli soldiers.

This has raised fears among Israeli commentators that the attack was part of a "multi-front war" being waged by resistance forces in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon, and supported by Iran, which "weakens Israeli deterrence," Al-Mayadeen reported on Sunday 4 June.

As Al-Mayadeen notes, the Egyptian policeman crossed the border fence and penetrated 1.5 km inside the occupied territories, where he shot and killed three Israeli soldiers as a part of three separate ambushes, according to Israeli media.

"The Egyptian policeman did not enter the border through a hole in the fence and did not climb it, but entered through an emergency corridor designated for the passage of Israeli forces to the Egyptian side of the border in case of need," Israeli media reported.

The attacker then set up an ambush where he killed the first two soldiers early Saturday morning. Hours later, he set up a second ambush and killed a third Israeli soldier while targeting the reinforcements which arrived looking for the missing unit.

"It was a drone that later spotted the policeman, who was one and a half kilometers deep inside the border after he infiltrated, and the confrontation and exchange of fire began with him then, where he managed to kill the third soldier," Israeli media further reported.

In the third ambush, the attacker again confronted Israeli reinforcements and was himself killed in the clash.

Israeli Channel 12 journalist Tamir Steinman said: "We remained with the difficult questions related to the incident," asking, "How can it happen that an Egyptian policeman infiltrated into Israel and killed two soldiers without causing any disturbance, and after that, it took so long until the army discovered that there was an exceptional incident."

Israeli political commentator, Ari Shavit told Channel 13 that an incident of this kind "unfortunately raises questions, as the process cannot be separated from a period in which we are talking about multiple arenas, meaning that our enemies are trying to heat up all fronts."

He stressed that this type of event on the Egyptian border is "part of the erosion of Israeli deterrence, and it is also part of the process of gradual heating of water, so it is important to know what happened. Although it is a local incident, it weakens something of the image of our deterrence, which is very important to strengthen and renew."

In May, Israel's security establishment considered launching a large-scale army operation in the occupied West Bank following an unprecedented surge in resistance operations against Israeli troops and settlers over the past year.

Also in May, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fired a barrage of rockets from Gaza at Israel following the death of one of its West Bank members, Khader Adnan, who died after a 78-day hunger strike to protest his administrative detention in an Israeli prison without charge.

The PIJ launched another heavy barrage of rockets at Israel following the assassination of several of its top leaders in the days after Adnan's death, in what came to be known as the battle of the Revenge of the Free.

In April, rockets were fired at Israel from Lebanon after Israeli police raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. The Israeli military announced that Hamas operatives, possibly working with the PIJ, had fired the rockets from near the southern Lebanese city of Tyre.

In response, the Wall Street Journal claimed that "The long shadow war between Iran and Israel is moving into an unpredictable new phase" due to the efforts of Esmail Qaani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force. The Journal noted that Qaani had held a "series of clandestine meetings with militant leaders across the region in recent weeks, including some operating in Syria and Iraq," and had begun "rallying allies across the Middle East to launch a fresh wave of attacks on Israeli targets."

[yankeedoodle]

Egyptian policeman's operation part of multifront war: Israeli media
Israeli media points out that the operation at the Egyptian border is "part of the erosion of Israeli deterrence".
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/egyptian-policemans-operation-part-of-multifront-war:-israel

The Egyptian policeman who carried out the operation on Saturday set up at least 3 ambush sites after he managed to cross 1.5km inside occupied Palestinian territory where he shot and killed three Israeli occupation soldiers, Israeli media reported revealing new details on the operation.

The media outlets indicated that the first ambush was set after his infiltration where he killed the first two soldiers, the second was when the forces arrived in the morning looking for the missing unit where he shot and killed the third soldier,  while the third was when he confronted the occupation reinforcements that ended with his martyrdom.

https://twitter.com/AlMayadeenNews/status/1665054496634855425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1665054496634855425%7Ctwgr%5Ee2e5f8b42df4e8f1af4311bbf2c40de40fb87d9d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fenglish.almayadeen.net%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Fegyptian-policemans-operation-part-of-multifront-war%3A-israel

"The Egyptian policeman did not enter the border through a hole in the fence and did not climb it, but entered through an emergency corridor designated for the passage of Israeli forces to the Egyptian side of the border in case of need," the media said.

The last contact established with the two soldiers who were at an observation post was at 4:15 am, and after 5 hours, at about 9:00 am, they were found dead on site.

"It was a drone that later spotted the policeman, who was one and a half kilometers deep inside the border after he infiltrated, and the confrontation and exchange of fire began with him then, where he managed to kill the third soldier."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjwhW1DiGM8

Tough questions
The Israeli media raised questions regarding Egyptian soldiers' operation on the border, noting that the questions "start from infiltration to killing soldiers without being discovered, to surprising the incoming units again and killing the third soldier."

The Israeli Channel 12 correspondent, Tamir Steinman, said: "We remained with the difficult questions related to the incident," asking: "How can it happen that an Egyptian policeman infiltrated into Israel and killed two soldiers without causing any disturbance, and after that, it took so long until the army discovered that there was an exceptional incident."

https://twitter.com/AlMayadeenNews/status/1664948836421320710?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1664948836421320710%7Ctwgr%5Ee2e5f8b42df4e8f1af4311bbf2c40de40fb87d9d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fenglish.almayadeen.net%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Fegyptian-policemans-operation-part-of-multifront-war%3A-israel

"More than an hour passed until they realized that two fighters had been shot, and when they arrived at the area and started the search process while they were on alert, the same Egyptian soldier surprised them again and caused another death." 

In turn, the former head of the Operations Division of the Israeli occupation army, Israel Ziv, to the media outlet that "the Egyptian soldier operation must be investigated, as it is a very bad incident with unbearable results." 

"A lot of things must be investigated, including the problem of the response time, as it was slow," he added, pointing out that there is "a problem also with control [of the area], as there are technological means at the scene of the accident."

The multifront war
Regarding the repercussions of the event on the Israeli occupation, Israeli media confirmed that the operation on the Egyptian border "weakens Israeli deterrence," noting that "it cannot be separated from the time period in which we are in, which is the multifront issue and the turmoil on all fronts." 

In response to a question about whether this type of operation was not prepared for by "Israel", the political commentator, Ari Shavit, told Channel 13 that this operation was "a difficult and bad incident."

He pointed out that an incident of this kind with such results "unfortunately raises questions, as the process cannot be separated from a period in which we are talking about multiple arenas, meaning that our enemies are trying to heat up all fronts."

He stressed that this type of event is "part of the erosion of Israeli deterrence, and it is also part of the process of gradual heating of water, so it is important to know what happened. Although it is a local incident, it weakens something of the image of our deterrence, which is very important to strengthen and renew." 

Earlier, officials in the Israeli military commented on the Egyptian border incident by saying that "the defense concept of the Israeli army collapsed," noting that "the Egyptian soldier was able to return to Egyptian territory, but he waited hours in Israel to carry out other operations against the Israeli army."

https://twitter.com/AlMayadeenNews/status/1665058012833169408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1665058012833169408%7Ctwgr%5Ee2e5f8b42df4e8f1af4311bbf2c40de40fb87d9d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fenglish.almayadeen.net%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Fegyptian-policemans-operation-part-of-multifront-war%3A-israel

This came at a time when the Israeli media reported that the shooting by the Egyptian policeman " was planned," noting that there was no direct link between the "drug thwarting operation" and the shooting that killed three Israelis.

"The Egyptian policeman "practically succeeded in causing severe results," the occupation media concluded.

Security affairs expert Yossi Melman told Channel 12, "If it turns out that the Egyptian soldier crossed the border and waited for the Israeli soldiers, this is a double failure for the Israeli army," adding that "the joint investigation [with Egypt] will not answer difficult questions." 

Pointing out that it is very difficult for an Egyptian policeman to cross the border, Melman asked: "How did the surveillance personnel not detect him? Where are the sensors in the fence, where are the cameras there, and what were the intentions of the policeman?"