Egyptian security experts warn Israel planning on occupying part of Sinai

[ 20/08/2011 - 12:47 PM ]

CAIRO, (PIC)-- Egyptian security experts warn Israel is planning on taking control in part of the Sinai Peninsula with support from the United States.

The move would be a proactive step by the Israelis after the ouster of Israeli ally and former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

Former Major General Sameh Seif El-Yezel, an expert on national security and intelligence, said that Israel was planning on crossing Egyptian borders and occupying somewhere between five and seven kilometers of the Sinai Peninsula in order to secure its borders. He pointed out that world powers would support Israel in case that happened.

Another security expert Ibrahim Salah said the plan had leaked during the onset of Egypt’s Jan. 25 revolution. He said that Israel managed to convince the U.S. that the Mubarak removal would threaten the stability of its borders with Egypt and that it was in the best interest to secure those boundaries by occupying part of Sinai by any means necessary.

Egyptian newspaper Al-Masri Al-Yawm quoted Egyptian security sources as saying that the situation in Sinai has become serious, as tensions rise at home and abroad. He said on one hand there is an internal conflict across the peninsula between elements from the Egyptian armed forces and armed groups, and on the other hand, the Israelis have attacked in the north, confirming fears that Israel has intent to move into the peninsula.

The sources said that Israel wanted to demonstrate that Egypt was unable to control security in Sinai and that its borders with Egypt are not secure. He also said there was a possibility that in the near future, Israel would ask for international armed forces to be deployed to monitor its borders with Egypt.

Meanwhile, Israeli war minister Ehud Barak has instructed to take additional contractors to accelerate the constructing of a security fence on its boundaries with Egypt following the Elat attacks. The new plan is to have the wall built by the end of 2012 instead of 2013 as initially planned. 

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