Egypt to close Rafah crossing, postpones Gaza ceasefire talks

Monday 27 October 2014

Egypt to close Rafah crossing, postpones Gaza ceasefire talks

أعلنت السلطات المصرية إغلاق معبر رفح حتى أجل غير مسمى

Al-Ahbar

Updated at 3:00 pm (GMT +3): Egypt announced it would close the Rafah crossing into the Gaza Strip, the only entry to the Palestinian territory not controlled by Israel, after Friday’s suicide car bombing, which killed 30 soldiers in the peninsula.

It is also considering expanding the jurisdiction of military courts and displacing thousands of residents to enlarge a military buffer zone near the border with the Gaza Strip following an attack on security forces in the area.

The buffer zone is likely to be expanded in order to pursue militants and destroy tunnels used to smuggle weapons and fighters.

On Saturday, Egypt's council of ministers proposed a measure, now awaiting Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi approval, which would see military courts used to try civilians accused of offenses such as blocking roads or attacking public property.

Ending martial law throughout the country, which gives the authorities wide-ranging policing powers, was one of the demands of the popular uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and paved the way for Islamist president Mohammed Mursi's election a year later.

The proposed measure on military courts threatens to revive some of its most repressive aspects and could be used alongside a strict new law curbing protests. Liberal and secular activists have been targeted by that statute alongside thousands of Brotherhood supporters rounded up in Sisi's crackdown.

Sisi's critics are likely to see such a step as the latest move to clamp down on dissent by a government that has jailed thousands of political opponents and banned the Muslim Brotherhood, which denies involvement in militant violence.

Sisi said in a televised address that Egypt was facing "an existential battle" from the Islamist insurgency, based mostly in the Sinai, that has raged since Mursi's ouster. Cairo does not differentiate between radical Islamist groups and the Brotherhood, which maintains it is a peaceful organization.

Egypt postpones Gaza ceasefire talks

Egyptian officials on Sunday notified Palestinian factions that the upcoming round of indirect talks regarding a ceasefire agreement between Gaza militants and Israel has been postponed.

The talks, set up to iron out details of an August truce that ended five weeks of deadly fighting in Gaza, were scheduled for Monday.

Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman of the Hamas movement, told Ma'an that Egypt informed Hamas officials that the talks had been postponed.

There were no details given regarding the reason for the postponement nor any information about when the negotiations would be held.

"It's Egypt that will set a new date for indirect talks brokered by Egypt, and Hamas will be invited to that round of talks," Barhoum said.

The announcement comes in the wake of a deadly attack in the northern Sinai Peninsula.

The Israeli assault on Gaza this summer killed more than 2,140 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 73 on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers.

It ended on Aug. 26 with Israel pledging it would ease the crippling siege on Gaza, loosen restrictions on fishermen, and an agreement to hold future talks on other issues.

The siege on Gaza has been in place over the last seven years and has severely limited imports and exports, including building material.

The suicide bombing was carried out with "external support"

No group has claimed responsibility for Friday's attack but similar operations have been claimed by Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, Egypt's most active Sinai-based jihadist group.

Sisi, the army chief who toppled Mursi and was later elected head of state, chaired a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Saturday.

After the meeting,Sisi said the attacks had benefited from "foreign support" without specifying a particular country or group.

Officials say militants operating in Sinai are inspired by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the al-Qaeda offshoot now targeted by US-led airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. A senior commander from Ansar has told Reuters that ISIS has advised it on operating more effectively.

The suicide attack was the deadliest on Egyptian security forces since the army deposed Mursi last year, to the fury of his supporters.

A three-month state of emergency went into effect on Saturday in parts of North Sinai where the attacks happened.

A curfew is in force from 5:00 pm to 7:00 am.

Witnesses told AFP that new security checkpoints were erected in Rafah and the north Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid.

"The army and police will take all necessary measures to tackle the dangers of terrorism and its financing, to preserve the security of the region... and protect the lives of citizens," a presidential decree said.

Despite killing or arresting many militants, the army has so far been unable to eradicate them in a massive operation involving attack helicopters and tanks.

The military launched fresh airstrikes Saturday in northern Sinai, killing eight suspected militants, security officials said.

"A committee comprising senior army officials was formed to examine the latest terrorist attacks in Sinai... in order to reinforce the struggle against terrorism," a statement said.

Security officials said the 30 victims were killed when a suspected jihadist rammed his explosives-packed vehicle into a checkpoint in el-Arish, the main town in north Sinai.

Medics said 29 others, including a senior army officer and five others, were also wounded.

On Saturday, the body of a soldier who disappeared after Friday's attack was found riddled with bullets, security officials said.

Gunmen also shot dead an officer and wounded two soldiers Friday at another checkpoint south of El-Arish, security officials said.

(Reuters, AFP, Al-Akhbar)

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