Rocket attacks on Eilat and Aqaba
Encyclopedia
Rocket attacks on the neighboring cities of Eilat and Aqaba have been a tactic used by militants from the Palestinian
Islamist group Hamas
and organizations linked with al-Qaida because of the relative ease of launching rocket attacks against these two cities from adjacent desert areas.
In 2005 Al Qaeda fired rockets from the Jordanian desert at American naval vessels anchored at Aqaba. The most recent attack came on 2 August 2010, when seven Iran
ian-made Grad rockets hit the Israel
i city of Eilat and the Jordan
ian city of Aqaba
, two Red Sea
resort towns located side by side at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba
, and surrounding areas. The attack killed one Jordanian civilian and wounded several others.
Israeli, Jordanian, Egypt
ian and Palestinian Authority officials determined that the projectiles were fired from the adjacent Sinai Peninsula
in Egypt, and that the attack was perpetrated by Hamas. Hamas denied any connection with the attack.
Two rockets fell in front of the InterContinental
hotel in Aqaba. Five Jordanian men traveling in a taxi nearby were wounded, one seriously. The driver, Subhi Yousef Alawneh, died from his injuries later the same day. The road was damaged and two vehicles were destroyed, though the hotel itself escaped harm.
Three rockets fell on the city of Eilat, one in a drainage pool in the northern part of the city, causing no reported injuries or damage.
One rocket fell near an Egyptian security installation near Taba
, and another fell into the Red Sea.
Source and perpetrators
On 4 August, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his country had intelligence confirming that Hamas
, a Palestinian
Islamist militant group and de-facto governing authority in the Gaza Strip
, was responsible for the attack. He said the group was also responsible for a similar attack in April of that year (see below). It is believed that the rockets were cached in the Sinai and that the perpetrators were affiliated with Hamas and came from Gaza.
Egypt initially denied that the rockets had been launched from Egyptian territory, but reversed its position following investigations, stating that the rockets were fired simultaneously from the Taba region. Egyptian security sources implied that the rockets were launched by Hamas, stating that Hamas militants had snuck into Sinai through the Rafah tunnels to hide the fact that the group was behind the operation. Egyptian establishment media charged that Hamas was working "on the orders of their Iran
ian masters", and strongly attacked both Hamas and Iran for harming Egypt, claiming that Egypt would take revenge on the Palestinian group.
Palestinian Authority security officials said that the commander of Hamas' military wing in Rafah, Raed al Atar
, was responsible for ordering the attack. Intelligence sources said that a number of militants under his control crossed into Sinai through the Rafah tunnels, where they were met by Egyptian drivers and the rockets. They then proceeded in off-road vehicles to Taba, avoiding security checks by the Egyptians.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad
denied any link with the attacks. An anonymous Jordanian political source assessed that the attack was perpetrated by Al-Tawhid wa al-Jihad, a radical Muslim group which opposes Hamas and collaborates with Sinai Bedouin
who are at odds with the Egyptian authorities.
The September 2010 arrest in Egypt of Mohammed Dababash, the Hamas
intelligence chief in Gaza, is thought to be linked to the August 2010 attacks.
Responses=
The Jordanian government condemned the rocket firings as a "terror attack."
Israeli President Shimon Peres
said the attack appeared to be aimed at disrupting the possible resumption of direct peace talks between the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships for the first time in over 18 months. "There is a real struggle in the Middle East between the peace camp of moderate countries and the camp of extremists, who want to sabotage any chance of peace," Peres said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made similar comments, telling Jordan's King Abdullah
and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
that the attack telling "was committed by terror agents who want to thwart the peace process". "All states in the region that aspire towards peace should fight these powers, push terror away and bring peace closer," he added.
In mid-September 2010, the United States State Department issued a travel advisory warning to American citizens advising them not to travel to Aqaba based on concrete information about planned terrorist rocket attacks similar to the previous incidents. The department lifted that warning on Sept. 27.
Political ramifications
In the wake of the attack, the Israeli Ministry of Tourism accused the United States State Department of issuing a biased travel advisory, "singling out Eilat but not Aqaba, despite the fact that the rockets' only fatality was in the Jordanian city." Israeli Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov
announced plans to take the issue up with U.S. ambassador James Cunningham
, asserting that "Differentiating Israel from its neighbor that actually suffered loss of life is improper and lacks balance."
Egyptian response
The August 2, 2010 rocket attack on Eilat and Aqaba sparked rage in Egypt at Hamas and Iran
. The Egyptian press stated that the firing of the rockets from Egyptian territory by Hamas or by organizations cooperating with it constituted the crossing of a red line. The Egyptian position is that Iran is employing local proxies, such as Hamas, to escalate violence in the Middle East and to sabotage the Palestinian reconciliation efforts, as well as efforts to renew Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations.
in Egypt
at the resort town of Eilat at the extreme south of Israel. One rocket exploded in the neighboring town of Aqaba
in Jordan
, destroying an empty refrigerator warehouse. The other two rockets fell into the Red Sea
. No injuries were reported. No group claimed responsibility, but it was later determined that Hamas
was behind the attack.
ship docked in Aqaba, the , a , and the , a . A terrorist group linked with al-Qaida claimed to have made that attack. The ships and their crews were awarded the Combat Action Ribbon in response to the attack. One of the rockets hit a Jordanian military hospital, killing a Jordanian soldier. The attack is regarded as having been perpetrated by the al-Zarqawi
branch of Al Qaeda. The self-styled Abdullah Azzam Brigades also claimed responsibility. This was the most serious attack on American target in Jordan since the 2002 killing of American diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman.
, Hamas has already sent "a group from Gaza" to launch rocket attacks form Sinai at Eilat. According to Ronen Bergman, security affairs commentator for Yedioth Ahronoth
: "The farther from Cairo, the weaker the central authority is. They are having great difficulties with the Bedouin. If Hamas is able to deepen its cooperation with the Bedouin, and create bases in Sinai for recruitment, we're talking about a new ballgame."
According to The Christian Science Monitor
, concern about the possible use by terrorist organizations of the Sinai desert with the aid and cooperation of Sinai Bedouin has been growing in 2010. Although in the past concern has focused on the use of the Sinai by international Islamist organizations believed to operate there in cooperation with Sinai Bedouin, but the rise of Hamas in Gaza has increased concern about an expansion of Hamas terrorist infrastructure into Sinai. In April 2010, 26 members of an alleged Hezbollah spy cell were convicted by an Egyptian court on charges including planning attacks on tourist sites and smuggling weapons form Sinai Hamas
in Gaza. Earlier terrorist attacks on Egyptian beach resorts in Sinai including Sharm el-Sheikh
and southern Taba
are thought to have been the work of international terrorist organizations, including Al Qaeda, in cooperation with Sinai Bedouin.
Israeli General Gabi Ashkenazi
has said that Israel is aware of Hamas activity in the Sinai and that "Hamas will be held accountable" if it launches rockets at Eilat.
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
Islamist group Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
and organizations linked with al-Qaida because of the relative ease of launching rocket attacks against these two cities from adjacent desert areas.
In 2005 Al Qaeda fired rockets from the Jordanian desert at American naval vessels anchored at Aqaba. The most recent attack came on 2 August 2010, when seven Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian-made Grad rockets hit the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i city of Eilat and the Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
ian city of Aqaba
Aqaba
Aqaba is a coastal city in the far south of Jordan, the capital of Aqaba Governorate at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba. Aqaba is strategically important to Jordan as it is the country's only seaport. Aqaba is best known today as a diving and beach resort, but industrial activity remains important...
, two Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
resort towns located side by side at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba
Gulf of Aqaba
The Gulf of Aqaba is a large gulf located at the northern tip of the Red Sea. In pre twentieth-century and modern sources it is often named the Gulf of Eilat, as Eilat is its predominant Israeli city ....
, and surrounding areas. The attack killed one Jordanian civilian and wounded several others.
Israeli, Jordanian, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian and Palestinian Authority officials determined that the projectiles were fired from the adjacent Sinai Peninsula
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
in Egypt, and that the attack was perpetrated by Hamas. Hamas denied any connection with the attack.
August 2, 2010 Attack
The attack took place in the early morning. The projectiles were Iranian-made 122mm Grad rockets, each weighing 6 kilograms and with ranges of approximately 20 kilometers.Two rockets fell in front of the InterContinental
InterContinental
InterContinental is a brand of upscale luxury hotels, founded by Pan American World Airways, under Juan Trippe, and now owned by InterContinental Hotels Group. The chain operates over 200 hotels and resorts in approximately 75 nations.-History:...
hotel in Aqaba. Five Jordanian men traveling in a taxi nearby were wounded, one seriously. The driver, Subhi Yousef Alawneh, died from his injuries later the same day. The road was damaged and two vehicles were destroyed, though the hotel itself escaped harm.
Three rockets fell on the city of Eilat, one in a drainage pool in the northern part of the city, causing no reported injuries or damage.
One rocket fell near an Egyptian security installation near Taba
Taba Border Crossing
The Taba Border Crossing is an international border crossing between Taba, Egypt, and Eilat, Israel. Opened on April 26, 1982 it is currently the only entry/exit point between the two countries that handles tourists...
, and another fell into the Red Sea.
Source and perpetrators
On 4 August, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his country had intelligence confirming that Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
, a Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
Islamist militant group and de-facto governing authority in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
, was responsible for the attack. He said the group was also responsible for a similar attack in April of that year (see below). It is believed that the rockets were cached in the Sinai and that the perpetrators were affiliated with Hamas and came from Gaza.
Egypt initially denied that the rockets had been launched from Egyptian territory, but reversed its position following investigations, stating that the rockets were fired simultaneously from the Taba region. Egyptian security sources implied that the rockets were launched by Hamas, stating that Hamas militants had snuck into Sinai through the Rafah tunnels to hide the fact that the group was behind the operation. Egyptian establishment media charged that Hamas was working "on the orders of their Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian masters", and strongly attacked both Hamas and Iran for harming Egypt, claiming that Egypt would take revenge on the Palestinian group.
Palestinian Authority security officials said that the commander of Hamas' military wing in Rafah, Raed al Atar
Raed al Atar
Raed al Atar is the commander of the Rafah company of the Hamas Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades and member of the Hamas high military council. According to the Congressional Research Service analyst Jim Zanotti, his command is important due to Rafah being the destination point for the smuggling...
, was responsible for ordering the attack. Intelligence sources said that a number of militants under his control crossed into Sinai through the Rafah tunnels, where they were met by Egyptian drivers and the rockets. They then proceeded in off-road vehicles to Taba, avoiding security checks by the Egyptians.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad
Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine
The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine known in the West as simply Palestinian Islamic Jihad , is a small Palestinian militant organization. The group has been labelled as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and Israel...
denied any link with the attacks. An anonymous Jordanian political source assessed that the attack was perpetrated by Al-Tawhid wa al-Jihad, a radical Muslim group which opposes Hamas and collaborates with Sinai Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
who are at odds with the Egyptian authorities.
The September 2010 arrest in Egypt of Mohammed Dababash, the Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
intelligence chief in Gaza, is thought to be linked to the August 2010 attacks.
Responses=
The Jordanian government condemned the rocket firings as a "terror attack."
Israeli President Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres
GCMG is the ninth President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as the eighth Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
said the attack appeared to be aimed at disrupting the possible resumption of direct peace talks between the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships for the first time in over 18 months. "There is a real struggle in the Middle East between the peace camp of moderate countries and the camp of extremists, who want to sabotage any chance of peace," Peres said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made similar comments, telling Jordan's King Abdullah
Abdullah II of Jordan
Abdullah II ibn al-Hussein is the reigning King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. He ascended the throne on 7 February 1999 after the death of his father King Hussein. King Abdullah, whose mother is Princess Muna al-Hussein, is a member of the Hashemite family...
and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011....
that the attack telling "was committed by terror agents who want to thwart the peace process". "All states in the region that aspire towards peace should fight these powers, push terror away and bring peace closer," he added.
In mid-September 2010, the United States State Department issued a travel advisory warning to American citizens advising them not to travel to Aqaba based on concrete information about planned terrorist rocket attacks similar to the previous incidents. The department lifted that warning on Sept. 27.
Political ramifications
In the wake of the attack, the Israeli Ministry of Tourism accused the United States State Department of issuing a biased travel advisory, "singling out Eilat but not Aqaba, despite the fact that the rockets' only fatality was in the Jordanian city." Israeli Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov
Stas Misezhnikov
Stas Misezhnikov is an Israeli politician who currently serves as a member of the Knesset for Yisrael Beiteinu and as the country's Minister of Tourism.-Biography:...
announced plans to take the issue up with U.S. ambassador James Cunningham
James B. Cunningham
Ambassador James Blair Cunningham is an American diplomat. Having served as the acting United States Ambassador to the United Nations , and Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations , Cunningham served as the Consul General of the United States of...
, asserting that "Differentiating Israel from its neighbor that actually suffered loss of life is improper and lacks balance."
Egyptian response
The August 2, 2010 rocket attack on Eilat and Aqaba sparked rage in Egypt at Hamas and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. The Egyptian press stated that the firing of the rockets from Egyptian territory by Hamas or by organizations cooperating with it constituted the crossing of a red line. The Egyptian position is that Iran is employing local proxies, such as Hamas, to escalate violence in the Middle East and to sabotage the Palestinian reconciliation efforts, as well as efforts to renew Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations.
April 22, 2010 attack
Before dawn, three 122mm Grad rockets were fired from the Sinai PeninsulaSinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
at the resort town of Eilat at the extreme south of Israel. One rocket exploded in the neighboring town of Aqaba
Aqaba
Aqaba is a coastal city in the far south of Jordan, the capital of Aqaba Governorate at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba. Aqaba is strategically important to Jordan as it is the country's only seaport. Aqaba is best known today as a diving and beach resort, but industrial activity remains important...
in Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, destroying an empty refrigerator warehouse. The other two rockets fell into the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
. No injuries were reported. No group claimed responsibility, but it was later determined that Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
was behind the attack.
2000s
In 2005 several Katyusha rockets were fired from within Jordan. Some hit near the Eilat airport and two hit very close to 2 United States NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
ship docked in Aqaba, the , a , and the , a . A terrorist group linked with al-Qaida claimed to have made that attack. The ships and their crews were awarded the Combat Action Ribbon in response to the attack. One of the rockets hit a Jordanian military hospital, killing a Jordanian soldier. The attack is regarded as having been perpetrated by the al-Zarqawi
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh was a Jordanian militant Islamist who ran a paramilitary training camp in Afghanistan...
branch of Al Qaeda. The self-styled Abdullah Azzam Brigades also claimed responsibility. This was the most serious attack on American target in Jordan since the 2002 killing of American diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman.
Intelligence activity
- American intelligence warned of a fresh wave of planned rocket attacks on Aqaba.
- Egyptian security forces, which blame Hamas for the deadly 2010 rocket attacks on Eilat and Aqaba, went on high alert after receiving reports of new plans to smuggle rockets from Gaza into Egypt for the purpose of launching them at Israel.
Targets
Goals thought to be targets for terrorist rocket attacks in Aqaba and Eilat, in addition to the civilian population, include United States naval vessels on port calls, and civilian cruise ships.Desert as launching base for terrorist rocket attacks
Hamas is in communication with members of Sinai Bedouin groups and is thought to be capable of supplying them with rockets. Egypt’s imperfect control over Sinai Bedouin makes Bedouin-supported use of the Sinai as a base for launching rocket attacks possible. According to The EconomistThe Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, Hamas has already sent "a group from Gaza" to launch rocket attacks form Sinai at Eilat. According to Ronen Bergman, security affairs commentator for Yedioth Ahronoth
Yedioth Ahronoth
Yedioth Ahronoth is a daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Since the 1970s, it has been the most widely circulated paper in Israel. In a TGI survey comparing the last half of 2009 with the same period in 2008, Yedioth Ahronoth retained the title of most widely read newspaper in Israel...
: "The farther from Cairo, the weaker the central authority is. They are having great difficulties with the Bedouin. If Hamas is able to deepen its cooperation with the Bedouin, and create bases in Sinai for recruitment, we're talking about a new ballgame."
According to The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.The CSM is a newspaper that covers...
, concern about the possible use by terrorist organizations of the Sinai desert with the aid and cooperation of Sinai Bedouin has been growing in 2010. Although in the past concern has focused on the use of the Sinai by international Islamist organizations believed to operate there in cooperation with Sinai Bedouin, but the rise of Hamas in Gaza has increased concern about an expansion of Hamas terrorist infrastructure into Sinai. In April 2010, 26 members of an alleged Hezbollah spy cell were convicted by an Egyptian court on charges including planning attacks on tourist sites and smuggling weapons form Sinai Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
in Gaza. Earlier terrorist attacks on Egyptian beach resorts in Sinai including Sharm el-Sheikh
Sharm el-Sheikh
Sharm el-Sheikh is a city situated on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, Egypt, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 35,000...
and southern Taba
Taba
- Places :Egypt:* Taba, Egypt, a town in Egypt near the Gulf of Aqaba.** Taba Border Crossing, a border crossing between Taba in Egypt and Eilat in Israel...
are thought to have been the work of international terrorist organizations, including Al Qaeda, in cooperation with Sinai Bedouin.
Israeli General Gabi Ashkenazi
Gabi Ashkenazi
Gavriel "Gabi" Ashkenazi , was the Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defence Forces from 2007 to 2011.- Background and early life :...
has said that Israel is aware of Hamas activity in the Sinai and that "Hamas will be held accountable" if it launches rockets at Eilat.