Middle East Update

Daniel Kurtzer
Egypt’s long-term complacency about the security situation in Gaza came to a shocking and abrupt end two years ago when Israel pulled out its settlers and army. Not only did Egypt find itself face to face with Palestinians without an Israeli buffer, but Egypt also was a target of Palestinian terrorism in Sinai. The [...]

Salam Faraj
“After several rockets hit FOB (Forward Operating Base) Hammer on July 11, the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team maneuvered to find the source of the attack,”
a U.S. military statement said July 13. The next morning an
“unmanned aerial vehicle located 46 rocket launchers in the northern section of Besmaya Range Complex aimed at FOB Hammer.”

An Egyptian security official says arrested al-Qaeda members have revealed during interrogation that Khaled Mahmud Ahmed, the head of the group, escaped to Gaza when Egyptian authorities began arresting members of the group in April. (AFP/ABC News-Australia)

Foreign Ministry: Peres will have diplomatic duties
Shimon Peres, Israel’s most veteran statesman and a former Prime Minister, was sworn in as the Jewish state’s ninth president in a packed ceremony yesterday, July 15, in the Knesset parliamentary building.

Russia on Saturday July 14, suspended its participation in a key European arms control treaty that governs deployment of troops on the continent, the Kremlin said, a move that threatened to further aggravate Moscow’s already tense relations with the West.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shrugged off U.S. doubts of his government’s military and political progress Saturday, saying Iraqi forces are capable and American troops can leave “anytime they want.”

Iraqi security forces seized 200 explosive belts found during a search of a truck that had crossed into Iraq from Syria, Interior Ministry spokesman Maj.-Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said.
American military spokesman Brig.-Gen. Kevin Bergner said 60 to 80 foreign fighters enter Iraq “in any given month” - 70% of them through Syria. He said up to [...]

Israel is considering releasing Palestinian prisoners that carried out terrorist acts before the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993, The Jerusalem Post reports. The move would be an effort to raise the profile of the 250 security prisoners that Israel will release as a goodwill gesture toward Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
lmert told Abbas last month [...]

Deputy Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Moshe Kaplinsky said Wednesday July 11, that that he does not believe the IDF will go to war with Syria this summer, contrary to past estimates.
“We believe, as I personally believe, we needn’t expect a war with Syria this summer,”
Kaplinsky said at a meeting with military reporters in [...]

Senior Hizb’Allah officials will participate in a weekend conference in France aimed at devising a solution to the current political crisis in Lebanon. Hizb’Allah had threatened to snub the conference following a statement by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in which he described the militant Shi’ite group as a terrorist organization.