Egyptian policeman's operation part of multifront war: Israeli media
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Israeli media points out that the operation at the Egyptian border is "part of the erosion of Israeli deterrence".
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An Israeli occupation soldier closes a gate leading to the border in a military base following a shooting operation on the Egyptian border, Saturday, June 3, 2023 (AP)
The Egyptian policeman who carried out the operation on Saturday set up at least 3 ambush sites after he managed to cross 1.5km inside occupied Palestinian territory where he shot and killed three Israeli occupation soldiers, Israeli media reported revealing new details on the operation.
The media outlets indicated that the first ambush was set after his infiltration where he killed the first two soldiers, the second was when the forces arrived in the morning looking for the missing unit where he shot and killed the third soldier, while the third was when he confronted the occupation reinforcements that ended with his martyrdom.
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#الجندي_المصري خاض 3 مواجهات، ما يعني أنه نفذ ذلك عن وعي وهو ما يقلق "إسرائيل".
— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) June 3, 2023
الخبير في الشؤون الإسرائيلية إسماعيل مسلماني لـ #المشهدية. pic.twitter.com/9awsthV31a
"The Egyptian policeman did not enter the border through a hole in the fence and did not climb it, but entered through an emergency corridor designated for the passage of Israeli forces to the Egyptian side of the border in case of need," the media said.
The last contact established with the two soldiers who were at an observation post was at 4:15 am, and after 5 hours, at about 9:00 am, they were found dead on site.
"It was a drone that later spotted the policeman, who was one and a half kilometers deep inside the border after he infiltrated, and the confrontation and exchange of fire began with him then, where he managed to kill the third soldier."
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Tough questions
The Israeli media raised questions regarding Egyptian soldiers' operation on the border, noting that the questions "start from infiltration to killing soldiers without being discovered, to surprising the incoming units again and killing the third soldier."
The Israeli Channel 12 correspondent, Tamir Steinman, said: "We remained with the difficult questions related to the incident," asking: "How can it happen that an Egyptian policeman infiltrated into Israel and killed two soldiers without causing any disturbance, and after that, it took so long until the army discovered that there was an exceptional incident."
مشاهد لمنطقة إطلاق النار على الحدود المصرية، حيث أعلن المتحدث باسم "جيش" الاحتلال الإسرائيلي مقتل جنديين إسرائيليين.#مصر #فلسطين_المحتلة pic.twitter.com/jjSOrYF79o
— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) June 3, 2023
"More than an hour passed until they realized that two fighters had been shot, and when they arrived at the area and started the search process while they were on alert, the same Egyptian soldier surprised them again and caused another death."
In turn, the former head of the Operations Division of the Israeli occupation army, Israel Ziv, to the media outlet that "the Egyptian soldier operation must be investigated, as it is a very bad incident with unbearable results."
"A lot of things must be investigated, including the problem of the response time, as it was slow," he added, pointing out that there is "a problem also with control [of the area], as there are technological means at the scene of the accident."
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The multifront war
Regarding the repercussions of the event on the Israeli occupation, Israeli media confirmed that the operation on the Egyptian border "weakens Israeli deterrence," noting that "it cannot be separated from the time period in which we are in, which is the multifront issue and the turmoil on all fronts."
In response to a question about whether this type of operation was not prepared for by "Israel", the political commentator, Ari Shavit, told Channel 13 that this operation was "a difficult and bad incident."
He pointed out that an incident of this kind with such results "unfortunately raises questions, as the process cannot be separated from a period in which we are talking about multiple arenas, meaning that our enemies are trying to heat up all fronts."
He stressed that this type of event is "part of the erosion of Israeli deterrence, and it is also part of the process of gradual heating of water, so it is important to know what happened. Although it is a local incident, it weakens something of the image of our deterrence, which is very important to strengthen and renew."
Earlier, officials in the Israeli military commented on the Egyptian border incident by saying that "the defense concept of the Israeli army collapsed," noting that "the Egyptian soldier was able to return to Egyptian territory, but he waited hours in Israel to carry out other operations against the Israeli army."
تعرّفوا إلى الطبيعة الجغرافية للحدود بين #فلسطين و #مصر عام 1948👇 pic.twitter.com/vxyNJEYVnT
— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) June 3, 2023
This came at a time when the Israeli media reported that the shooting by the Egyptian policeman " was planned," noting that there was no direct link between the "drug thwarting operation" and the shooting that killed three Israelis.
"The Egyptian policeman "practically succeeded in causing severe results," the occupation media concluded.
Security affairs expert Yossi Melman told Channel 12, "If it turns out that the Egyptian soldier crossed the border and waited for the Israeli soldiers, this is a double failure for the Israeli army," adding that "the joint investigation [with Egypt] will not answer difficult questions."
Pointing out that it is very difficult for an Egyptian policeman to cross the border, Melman asked: "How did the surveillance personnel not detect him? Where are the sensors in the fence, where are the cameras there, and what were the intentions of the policeman?"
