Egyptian security forces in Sinai have found yet more weapons to be smuggled into Gaza to be used – oh, I don’t know – against Israel.
AP
Egyptian security forces on Sunday found an additional five missile and TNT caches in Sinai that were planned to be smuggled into Gaza, Palestinian news Agency Ma’an reported.
According to the report Egyptian forces found 110 antiaircraft missiles, over 100kg of explosives material.
The report comes a day after Egyptian authorities intercepted a shipment of at least 190 anti-aircraft missiles in Sinai.
Egyptian police raided several storage areas in the area and discovered the secret cache hidden in a remote region in the center of the peninsula.
In addition to the anti-aircraft missiles, rockets and other ammunition were seized, as well as a large supply of illegal drugs.
Reports also stated that authorities raided several locations in Rafah, where they found more stores of explosives and weapons.
Meanwhile, PA President Mahmoud Abbas wants everyone to know that the biggest obstacle to peace is Israel building “settlements,” and Arab League chief Amr Moussa is pessimistic about the peace talks for the same reason.
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)
12:52PM: The NY Times has given space to Electronic Intifada co-founder Ali Abunimah to spread propaganda and make the specious comparison between the Arab-Israeli conflict and the conflict in Northern Ireland.
A number of bloggers have given the article a thorough fisking, so I will point you in their direction instead of trying to reinvent the wheel during time I don’t have:
11:52AM: While PA President Mahmoud Abbas says Israel’s “settlement” building in occupied territories the obstacle to peace, this is how his PA TV defines the occupied territories (hat tip” PMW).
A growing number of Turkey’s Jews are leaving their homeland in favor of life in Israel, according to latest reports.
Approximately 85 members of Turkey’s 17,000-strong Jewish community arrived in Israel in the first half of 2010, according to Jacque Abursi, secretary of the Organization of Turkish Immigrants in Israel.
Speaking with the local Hebrew daily Yediot Aharonot, Abursi cited a significant increase in anti-Jewish sentiments as the primary reason for moving to Israel.
The Israeli government and the Jewish Agency have tried in vain in the past decades to convince Turkey’s Jews to immigrate to Israel.
Officials are attributing the sudden increase to a deterioration in diplomatic relations between the two countries following the Israeli incursion into Gaza in 2008. Relations reached an all-time low in the wake of a May 31 raid on a Gaza- bound Turkish aid flotilla that left nine activists dead.
Turkish officials, according to the report, are going out of their way to ease the apprehension allegedly felt by the Jewish communities of Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and elsewhere, by declaring their contribution to the state. But their efforts fall on deaf ears.
“The street is influenced by the political atmosphere, and we are on the verge of desperation from life here,” a Jewish resident of Istanbul was quoted recently. “We love Turkey, but we will not be able to live in fear for so long.”
An official Israeli source, who spoke with Xinhua on Sunday on condition of anonymity, said that more Turkish Jews are purchasing homes in Israel as a “potential shelter in case of need” over the past year.
Nissim Yochai, 54, a successful textile entrepreneur, landed in Israel with his wife and son on Friday.
“The situation is scary,” Yochai told the newspaper. “I think that within five years not a single Jew will remain in Turkey.”
“The (Jewish) community is in great distress, both politically and financially. Most Muslims tend not to buy at Jewish stores, mostly textile products,” he added.
Partners in Israel’s offshore Leviathan natural gas field said Sunday that new tests reveal the possibility to find up to 4.2 billion barrels of oil below the underwater gas field in the Mediterranean Sea.
The partners, including Noble Energy Inc. (NBL: 67.23 ,0.00 ,0.00%) and subsidiaries of Delek Group Ltd. (DLEKG.TV), said there was a 17% probability of geological success to find three billion barrels of oil at a depth of 5,800 meters and a 8% probability of geological success in finding 1.2 billion more barrels of oil at a depth of 7,200 meters.
The partners said it is too early to tell whether they will drill wells to access the oil, as further testing is needed.
In June, the partners announced that the Leviathan field contains 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, with a 50% probability for geological success. The partners will begin drilling for the gas in October.
Noble holds 39.66% of the Leviathan field; Delek subsidiaries Avner Oil and Gas Ltd. Partnership and Delek Drilling Ltd. Partnership each hold a 22.67% stake; and Ratio Oil Exploration Ltd. Partnership (RATI.L.TV) holds 15%.
When the Leviathan gas discovery was announced in June, Nabih Berri, the speaker of Lebanon’s parliament and Hashem Safieddine, executive council chief of the Islamic movement Hezbollah, told international media that the area belongs to Lebanon and not Israel. But Israeli government authorities denied this claim, saying Israel has the right the maritime area where the field is located.
A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
