יום ראשון, י״ז אלול תשפ״וSunday, August 30, 2026
Follow Us
Israel, for a change, can sit back, enjoy the show and watch Egypt do what the world would not let the IDF do – massive destruction of Hamas smuggling tunnels and all-out war against terror in the Sinai. Israel, for a change, can sit back, enjoy the show and watch Egypt do what the world would not let the IDF do – massive destruction of Hamas smuggling tunnels and all-out war against terror in the Sinai. The Egyptian military demolished hundreds of smuggling tunnels in and out of Hamas-controlled Gaza Sunday and is preparing for an all-our onslaught of Hamas, Al Qaeda and other terrorists in the Sinai, Egyptian media reported. The Egyptian offensive is a political and military shock to Hamas, with reverberations in Ramallah and Washington, on the eve of yet another attempt by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to re-ignite the “peace process.” “The reduction in smuggling will make it difficult for Hamas to maintain the level of its revenues, and therefore it will be hard pressed to contain the protests against its rule,” according to the Institute of National Security Studies (INSS). “It will also be difficult to infiltrate weapons into Gaza, mainly enhanced rockets and surface-to-surface missiles.” The Egyptian Aswat Masriya media outlet reported that 805 tunnels along the smuggling route, centered in the border city of Rafiah, were destroyed. Most of the tunnels have been used to smuggle fuel into Gaza. The Egyptian army will also close the Rafiah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip “indefinitely,” an official source told Egyptian newspaper al-Masry al-Youm. It placed a severe siege on Hamas but without a peep from the international community, which still condemns Israel for the maritime embargo that is aimed at preventing the import of terrorists and weapons from the sea. Terrorists in Rafiah targeted a military checkpoint Saturday, but no casualties were reported, and Egypt opened the Rafiah border crossing for four hours Saturday to allow humanitarian cases to cross the border. The tunnels have been a key route for terrorists to travel freely back and forth to the Sinai Peninsula and establish terrorist outposts aimed at staking out bases for attack on Egyptian tourist areas, such as El Arish, as well as urban areas. The army killed at least five terrorists on Friday, but Egyptian media reported a larger-scale offensive is in the works after an attempted assassination of Second Field Army commander Maj. Gen. Ahmed Wasfy on Wednesday. Egypt is using heavy arms and warplanes, maneuvers that are prohibited under the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty of 1979 without Israel’s approval. With the unstable and radical anti-Israel Muslim Brotherhood out of power, thanks to the military “impeachment” or coup – take your pick – Israel is not blocking any offense, “Security sources confirmed that Israel does not mind that the Egyptian forces use heavy artillery and warplanes during the operation which is expected to start very soon” military sources confirmed to the official television on Saturday. Official added, “The army had decided to cleanse the Sinai of armed gangs and terrorists "The operation will continue until it reaches its objectives, which are not only military but also aim to develop the Sinai.” Meanwhile, state media have reported Friday that two Egyptian Apache helicopters hovered over olive groves south of El-Arish before they fired shells at bunkers of Jihadist gunmen who were preparing to attack army checkpoints. The Egyptian Air Force on Saturday sent in two Apache helicopters to gun down jihadists after it received intelligence information that they were hiding in olive groves and preparing to attack military checkpoints. On Friday, an Egyptian helicopter was seen in the skies over Gaza for the first time since the Six-Day War in 1967. The Hamas terrorist organization is an offspring of the Muslim Brotherhood and therefore is a natural enemy of the military that ousted Mohammed Morsi two weeks ago. Hams has denied Egyptian military statements that its soldiers jailed 32 Hamas terrorists and arrested dozens others in the Sinai Peninsula last week. Hamas figuratively shot itself in the head last August when it mounted a severe attack on the Egyptian army, killing 16 soldiers near Rafiah in a multi-pronged attack that was intended to continue into Israel but was foiled at the last minute by the IDF. Ever since, Hamas has been an undeclared enemy, and even the Morsi regime was suspicious of it. The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority also is benefiting from Hamas’ miseries but is suppressing its joy because Hamas has widespread support among Arabs in Judea and Samaria who are fed up with chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Any moves by the Secretary of State Kerry to win some kind of a forum between Israeli and Palestinian Authority are a useless exercise without the inclusion of Gaza. Another fallout of the offensive against Hamas might be negative for Israel in the near-term. “The motivation of Hamas and jihadi elements from Sinai to launch attacks against Israel is increasing,” INSS thinks.
Hamas is on the run. Virtually boycotted by Abbas, hated by Assad and distrusted by Iran and a diagnosed by Israel as a cancer, Egypt reportedly has killed 30 Hamas terrorists in the Sinai.
Egypt’s interim government has named economist Hazem el-Beblawi as the prime minister, the post that was supposed to taken over by Mohamed ElBaradei until Salafist Muslims vehemently objected because of his liberal and secular views. The Salafist Al Nour party agreed to the appointment of el-Beblawi, and the interim regime also appointed ElBaradei as vice […]
While the government lawyers are looking into the matter, the hands on the US aid spigot will ignore the "c" (coup) word, and U.S. aid to Egypt will continue flowing.
Hundreds of Chicago Muslims marched in support of deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi Sunday and held signs condemning the Egyptian military, the Chicago Tribune reported. Many of the Chicago demonstrators were born in Egypt, and others have roots elsewhere in the Arab world. Fisal Hammouda, who left Egypt in the 1960s, told the newspaper that […]
For Obama, the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood attained power in a more-or-less free election, outweighs the fact that their political principles are thoroughly anti-democratic.
"Syria is already in the grips of the civil war ... and Egypt is moving in the same direction," Russian President Vladimir Putin told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti on Sunday. Hours after he spoke, the Egyptian daily Al Ahram reported that a new compromise choice has been picked as Egypt’s next prime minister […]
New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner found another subject to use as a soap box for his opinions – the crisis in Egypt. After having reiterated his stand last month that Israel does not “occupy” Judea and Samaria, Weiner recently said of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, “You can’t get elected by a relatively […]
Hundreds of thousands of supporters and opponents of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi took to the streets Sunday as Egyptian Air Force planes flew overhead, underscoring the military’s overbearing presence since placing Morsi under virtual house arrest last week. Adding to the uncertainty in the air was Sunday’s resignation of Justice Minister Ahmed Suleiman, who […]
The political violence is turning into a religious war - if it wasn't one already/
Violence in the streets underscores the irreparable rift that is turning Egypt into Syria.
Interim Egyptian President Adly Monsour backtracked on Saturday night, and said that ElBaradei was not appointed as Prime Minister of Egypt, following the military coup that deposed the democratically elected Muslim Bortherhood leader Mohammed Morsi. The appointment was opposed by the strict Islamic party Salafi al-Nour, and the newly appointed Eyptian president apparently decided to not […]
By Shalom Bear
The man Israel has accused of being an Iranian agent has been appointed as Prime Minister of Egypt.
By Shalom Bear
At least one Egyptian soldier was killed and two wounded; tension before Friday prayers in the mosques, mass pro-Morsi rallies anticipated.
Turkey's political leadership - fearing for their own future - denounces ouster of Morsi and demands Egypt "return to democracy."
By JTA
An Egyptian wrestler who bit her Israeli opponent during competition was suspended by wrestling’s international body. Enas Moustafa Youssef Khourshid was “immediately suspended” by the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles after the Grand Prix event last month in Sassari, Italy, according to the Associated Press. Khourshid also refused to shake the hand of Israeli […]
Military suspends constitution, install caretaker government; Egyptian army deployed.
The US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki could not confirm if a military coup is currently underway in Egypt .
Mixing Western democracy with Egyptian Islamists is a recipe with a smell of civil war. Reason and logic are under house arrest. If the army takes over, it can thank the US for training it soldiers.
Mobs protesting the rule of Mohammed Morsi have sexually assaulted nearly 100 women and raped at least 91 in the last four days of protests, Human Rights Watch reported. Forty-six attacks took place on Sunday, 17 on Monday and 43 on Tuesday, according to figures attributed to the Egyptian Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment/Assault, which operates a […]
The Egyptian army military announced on Tuesday it will establish an interim regime if Mohammed Morsi cannot come to an agreement with opposition forces by Wednesday night, a virtual impossibility. The army insisted it is not intending to rule the country, but in effect it plans to unilaterally dissolve the legislature and appoint Egypt’s chief […]
The New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief and a correspondent in Washington have woken up and realized that there are a few matters in the Middle East a bit more urgent than fawning over the fossil of the peace process. Under the headline “Chaos in Middle East Grows as the U.S. Focuses on Israel,” Judi […]
Egypt may be on the brink of another temporary military regime or civil war. The army told Morsi to make peace with the opposition within 48 hours or face a military “roadmap.”
By JoeSettler
Egyptians would probably be quite happy to have Mubarak back in power.
Jihadist terrorists fired a Grad missile in the Sinai Tuesday, causing no injuries or damage. Egyptian sources said that attack was a warm-up for Sunday when widespread violence is expected in massive demonstrations against the Muslim Brotherhood government of Mohammed Morsi. His defense minister warned that the army will intervene is the protests turn violent on […]
Egypt has enough diesel fuel to last eight days, butane enough for ten days and petrol enough for 14 days and no-one has proposed a way to find the more than $20 billion a year that Egypt requires to stay afloat.
The series is explicitly intended to demonize the Jews as an alien race hostile to Muslims and the welfare of the world.
By Dana Nasi
Sexual harassment and rape within Egypt has worsened under the Muslim Brotherhood
Egypt has deployed helicopters to patrol the Sinai Peninsula and has declared a state of alert in the area after radical Islamic terrorists from Gaza set up a base in the central Sinai. Curfews were clamped on Sinai cities, including the Egyptian side of Rafiah and el-Arish, according to the Bethlehem-based Ma'an news agency. Approximately […]
Egyptian’s Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi announced Saturday he will cut diplomatic ties with the regime of Bashar Assad and close Cairo’s embassy in Damascus. He also demanded that Hezbollah leave Syria adding, “There is no business or place for Hezbollah in Syria.” Morsi spoke at a rally organized by hardline Islamists, whose clerics told […]
American exceptionalism emerged out of a society which empowered the creative talents of the individual but through the simple virtue of leaving men alone to do their work.
By Barry Rubin
You have a massive counterterrorist project costing $1 trillion but when it comes down to it the thing repeatedly fails.
Erdogan is sounding more like Assad and Mubarak every day. Protesters were vandals,. Now they are terrorists. He is making every mistake possible, fueling the protest movement by insulting it.
The demonstrations against Erdoğan stem from a sense among his opposition that he has crossed the line in Turkey.
Turkey is burning. Nine days of riots. Three dead. Erdogan’s police arrest society’s enemy – Twitters. Now, a Turkish doctor charges police are using Condoleezza Rice gas, a chemical agent.
By JTA
An Egyptian court on Tuesday convicted 43 employees of NGOs in Egypt, including 19 Americans, of using foreign funds to incite violence in the country. The workers were sentenced to jail terms of one to five years and fines. Most of the American workers, including Sam LaHood, the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, […]
You find the rats when the ship sinks. The Iranian dictatorship used to love the Hamas dictatorship until Hamas opposed the Assad dictatorship. Hamas asks, “How could Ahmadinejad support a dictator?”
In Gaza, the Egyptian data from 1965 had about 100,000 additional people, or 25% more than the Israelis counted.
Egypt is like a car with ninety million problems, and to describe it as a 'total loss' is to understate the situation.
By Barry Rubin
America could be said to be building a united front against Iran, but at what price?
The Egyptian ambassador warned against allowing Jews to pray at the Temple Mount even under a time-share system.
Going forward, Guardian reporters would be well advised to keep their opinions firmly within the confines of the Guardian’s op-ed page.
The Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt, headed by President Mohammed Morsi, is set to issue “Islamic bonds,” not to be confused with the highly successful Israeli bonds that helped the Jewish state get off it feet after its re-establishment in 1948. Unlike Israel, modern Egypt has been around for a long time, but the Arab […]
Will Mona Seif become, like Samira Ibrahim, one whose social media activity rocketed her to a spot in the global limelight, but then caused her ignominious downfall as well?
An Israeli Bedouin serving a life prison sentence in Egypt on charges of being a spy has begun a hunger strike to draw attention to his plight, the Egyptian Ahram website reported. Ouda Trabin was sentenced in 2000 on charges of espionage. Voice of Israel public radio aired on Wednesday a letter he sent to […]
By Barry Rubin
A new paper at a Muslim Brotherhood-associated think tank has admitted that Israel is not the primary "threat" to Arab culture fingering Iran instead.
Martyrdom-minded religious fanatics have a bad reputation in this part of the world, so this "folksy" sermon is less than good news.
Egyptian authorities have smashed a suspected Israeli spy ring consisting of Egyptian and Palestinian Authority Arabs operating in the Sinai Peninsula, official state media reported Sunday. The only alleged spy who has been arrested is an Egyptian national who is said to have been the ringleader and who confessed that he handed over secret military […]
The IDF's assessment, hardly surprising and certainly not for the first time, is that the attack on Eilat was made from the nearby Sinai Peninsula.
By Barry Rubin
Ironically, if Israel and the Palestinian Authority signed a peace agreement, the recruiting and encouragement of extremism in the region would be at far higher levels than it is now.
By Barry Rubin
What can the Copts do except resign themselves to continued persecution?
The European Union still refuses to place the Islamic terrorist group Hezb'allah on its official terrorist list; were it to do so, that would likely have a substantial impact on the group's ability to conduct its global terrorism activities.
By Barry Rubin
If a radical movement seizes control of the state and can hold it for a very long time, it can fundamentally transform policies and foreign policy.
Radical Islamist ideology must be analyzed and challenged or the fight against terrorism wil have no end.
By Barry Rubin
A country of 85 million people and which is heavily armed is burning with anarchy and violence is threatening genocide against a neighbor. Might this be a matter of concern?
Through the process of the ten plagues, the Jews saw the Egyptians for what they were, just another group of petrified humans.
By JTA
The link was from Al Jazeera featuring former CNN host Rick Sanchez on Jews and Stewart.
By Barry Rubin
Ignoring Abdullah's warnings, it seems the Obama administration has backed an Islamist candidate to lead the Syrian opposition.
By Shalom Bear
Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh left Gaza to Egypt on Saturday with a delegation of 21 senior Hamas members. Haniyeh is meeting with senior Egyptian security personnel. The Hamas delegation are trying to improve relations with Egypt, which have been on a down-slide ever since the terror attacks began in the Sinai which many suspect are […]
The convoy which seeks to breach the legal Israeli blockade of Gaza, was organized by the IHH. The IHH claims to be a humanitarian agency, but is described by experts as a radical Islamist terrorism financing organization.
Passover interview: Rolin Abdallah grew up in an Arab country with no knowledge of her Jewish heritage. Today, she is IDF soldier Dina Ovadia. Here is a Cinderella and Haggadah story rolled into one.
By Barry Rubin
Obama has not abandoned the pro-Islamist policy that has created a far more dangerous security situation for Israel.
The argument that democracy had made the Muslim world dysfunctional was always chancy.
By Barry Rubin
In August 2010, Obama ordered a secret report on unrest in the Arab world.
Hezbollah are currently training a 50,000-strong militia to fight the rebels in Syria – with hopes to recruit 50,000 more.
There will be five other resolutions targeting Israel, and about the same number combined covering the rest of the world.
By Barry Rubin
Israeli officials will be very polite in discussions and sarcastic when they talk among themselves afterward.
If the U.S. is truly serious about honoring moderate Muslims, why is it not honoring those people who stick their necks out in stating their love for America and peace with Israel?
By Barry Rubin
If the US cannot depend on its new “allies,” despite the supposed popularity of Obama and its policies in those places, then how can they be said to be allies at all?
By Anav Silverman, Tazpit News Agency
Israel is utilizing new media technology to developing innovative ways to extend hands of friendship to countries in a volatile Middle East. “We are exploring government, people and societies … trying to skip over the borders and using the new media to create virtual embassies," which speak directly to those in the Arab world, said […]
Hamas is trying to re-work its image as a terrorist organization to convince the United States and the European Union remove it from the list of sponsors of terrorism. The campaign comes at the same time that pressure is growing on the EU to add Hizbullah to the list of terrorist organizations. The Egypt Independent […]
The Muslim Brotherhood regime is ignoring the “systematic” destruction of Antonopoulos, one of Egypt’s biggest archaeological sites, the Egypt Independent reported Monday. Monica Hanna, a researcher with the University of Humboldt in Berlin, told the newspaper that information she received from archaeologists working at the site, also known as Sheikh Abada, revealed that bulldozers have […]
By Barry Rubin
The Egyptian regime doesn't want a war or even a high level of conflict at this time.
When Mein Kampf was published, many people thought it was just words. They were wrong.
It's not surprising that, especially in Egypt, the State Department had a hard time finding someone who did not share the common prejudices against Jews.
By Barry Rubin
Historically, inasmuch as there was any European or American “imperialism” in the Middle East it made use of Arab political factors over Israel.
An elementary list of reminders regarding the Holiday of Freedom.
Samira Ibrahim did not care about eliminating violence towards Israelis or Americans, she rejoiced when that happened - she's no 'Woman of Courage.'
Lawlessness in the Sinai is growing and the danger of terrorists taking control is huge.
By Barry Rubin
We are going to be told often in the next two months that things are going to get better in Egypt. It's likely that they are going to get worse.
The American foreign policy error was to assume that the political grievances of the Arab Street could be appeased with democracy.
By Barry Rubin
Despite Obama's disastrous Middle East policy, in practice, there have been no real, material, or huge problems in direct U.S.-Israel relations.
A swarm of several thousands locusts that descended on Egypt began to cross into southern Israel Monday night, but agricultural officials said that pesticides will limit the damage. A small swarm of the destructive cousin to the grasshopper was discovered on the Israeli side of the border with Egypt for the first time in eight […]
No, I'm not laughing...but come on, locusts? Egypt? Just before Passover?
Israel's Agriculture Ministry set up an emergency hotline Monday and has asked citizens to immediately report any sightings of locusts in order to prevent an outbreak of the destructive insects that have invaded Egypt. Swarms of locusts have landed on crops in Egypt, causing widespread devastation, but the government claims it has eradicated 95 percent […]
By Barry Rubin
What the Obama Administration has done is like trying to reduce crime by turning over the cities to the Mafia and letting it make the laws and also run the police and court systems.
The Muslim Brotherhood has won its reward for driving the Egyptian into the ground - $190 million in immediate aide from the US n return for promises of reforms it promised t carry out a year ago.
It's not always clear what the Israel Lobby's accomplishments really consist of.
An Egyptian court Tuesday threw out a lawsuit to cancel the 1979 peace treaty with Israel, but the ruling left an opening for breaking the pact. It ruled that the court simply has no jurisdiction over the issue, which it said involves state sovereignty. The suit claimed that Israel is violating the treaty and UN […]
By Barry Rubin
This is all a tragedy for the poor victims in the Middle East and a farce for the well-paid, much-honored careerist opportunists and ideologues in the West.
According to former Mossad official Rafi Eitan, the Egyptian military was ready to announce that Ahmed Shafiq won elections, but the US pressured them to announce in favor of Morsi.
Hamas is getting it from all sides, even as, or perhaps because, they are reportedly secretly negotiating with Israel on the current cease-fire.
By Barry Rubin
If they could have pressed a button and Israel would have disappeared, almost none of them would have hesitated.
banners or chants "that include insults, defamation or contempt of 'heavenly' religions, or that stir sedition, violence or hatred or include an offence to state bodies and institutions" will be prohibited
Locusts, 10 Plagues, Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood, Bible, Passover, agriculture,
By Barry Rubin
While such a visit would resolve previous criticism that Obama never visited Israel as president, it is a mistake, especially given the timing, for a number of reasons.
The main concern of Muslim citizens in any Islamic state is staying safe, alive and away from being accused of doing or saying anything against Islamic teachings.
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood regime is making Hosni Mubarak look like a peacenik. Police tortured to death two activists, others are “missing,” but the US is politely “disturbed” at its Muslim ally.
By Daniel Pipes
What a launch for Kerry, whose mental vapidity promises to make Hillary Clinton actually look good in retrospect.
The crisis in Port Said has exposed deep problems in Egypt's political system.
August 28, 2026 
