The 1948

After a period of relative calm, border incidents between Israel and Syria, Egypt, and Jordan increased during the early 1960s, with Palestinian guerrilla groups actively supported by Syria. In May, 1967, President Nasser, his prestige much eroded through his inaction in the face of Israeli raids, requested the withdrawal of UN forces from Egyptian territory, mobilized units in the Sinai, and closed the Gulf of Aqaba to Israel. Israel (which had no UN forces stationed on its territory) responded by mobilizing.

The escalation of threats and provocations continued until June 5, 1967, when Israel launched a massive air assault that crippled Arab air capability. With air superiority protecting its ground forces, Israel controlled the Sinai peninsula within three days and then concentrated on the Jordanian frontier, capturing Jerusalem's Old City (subsequently annexed), and on the Syrian border, gaining the strategic Golan Heights. The war, which ended on June 10, is known as the Six-Day War.

The Suez Canal was closed by the war, and Israel declared that it would not give up Jerusalem and that it would hold the other captured territories until significant progress had been made in Arab-Israeli relations. The end of active, conventional fighting was followed by frequent artillery duels along the frontiers and by clashes between Israelis and Palestinian guerrillas.

   During 1973 the Arab states, believing that their complaints against Israel were going unheeded (despite the mounting use by the Arabs of threats to cut off oil supplies in an attempt to soften the pro-Israel stance of the United States), quietly prepared for war, led by Egypt's President Anwar Sadat . On Oct. 6, 1973, the Jewish holy day Yom Kippur, a two-pronged assault on Israel was launched. Egyptian forces struck eastward across the Suez Canal and pushed the Israelis back, while the Syrians advanced from the north. Iraqi forces joined the war and, in addition, Syria received some support from Jordan, Libya, and the smaller Arab states. The attacks caught Israel off guard, and it was several days before the country was fully mobilized; Israel then forced the Syrians and Egyptians back and, in the last hours of the war, established a salient on the west bank of the Suez Canal, but these advances were achieved at a high cost in soldiers and equipment.

    Through U.S. and Soviet diplomatic pressures and the efforts of the United Nations, a tenuous cease-fire was implemented by Oct. 25. Israel and Egypt signed a cease-fire agreement in November, but Israeli-Syrian fighting continued until a cease-fire was negotiated in 1974. Largely as a result of the diplomatic efforts of U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger , Israel withdrew back across the Suez Canal and several miles inland from the east bank behind a UN-supervised cease-fire zone. On the Syrian front too, Israeli territorial gains made in the war were given up.

    After the war Egyptian and Syrian diplomatic relations with the United States, broken since the 1967 war, were resumed, and clearance of the Suez Canal began. The 1973-74 War brought about a major shift of power in the Middle East and ultimately led to the signing of the Camp David Accords .

In 1978 Palestinian guerrillas, from their base in Lebanon , launched an air raid on Israel; in retaliation, Israel sent troops into S Lebanon to occupy a strip 4-6 mi (6-10 km) deep and thus protect Israel's border. Eventually a UN peacekeeping force was set up there, but occasional fighting continued. In 1982 Israel launched a massive attack to destroy all military bases of the Palestine Liberation Organization in S Lebanon and, after a 10-week siege of the Muslim sector of West Beirut , a PLO stronghold, forced the Palestinians to accept a U.S.-sponsored plan whereby the PLO guerrillas would evacuate Beirut and go to several Arab countries that had agreed to accept them. Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 1985 but continues to maintain a Lebanese-Christian-policed buffer zone north of its border.

1956
Egypt nationalises Suez Canal (July). Britain, France conspire to recapture the canal with Israeli help. Israel invades Sinai in October: Britain and France "intervene" and occupy canal zone, but withdraw under US pressure (November).

5 June 1967
Israel seizes Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian territory in a pre-emptive attack that became known as the Six Day War. The Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip are captured from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria and the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan. Israel's successes doubled the size of the territory it controlled.

6 October 1973
Egypt and Syria attack Israeli forces in Sinai and Golan Heights on Jewish fast of Yom Kippur. They make initial gains but retreat after Israeli counter-attacks.

September 1978
Egypt, Israel and the United States sign Camp David accords. Israel agrees to hand back Sinai to Egypt in return for peace and normalisation.
Full Text: Camp David Accords
(From Israel embassy site)

Suez Canal

Artificial waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to Gulf of Suez, and then to the Red Sea.

The canal is 163 km long, and has a width is a minimum of 60 metres. The canal is cutting through three lakes, the Lake Manzala, in the north from which it is protected with a bedding on the western side, the Lake Timsah in the middle, and the Bitter Lakes further south. The Bitter Lakes makes up almost 30 km of the total length. Along most of the length, there is only one lane for traffic available, though there are a handful of passing bays.

The canal is extensively used by modern ships, as it is the fastest crossing from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. Taxes paid by the vessels represent an important source of income for the Egyptian government.

HISTORY
13th century BCE: A canal is constructed between the delta of the Nile and the Red Sea. For the following centuries, the canal was only partially maintained.
8th century CE: The canal is no longer maintained, and soon becomes unnavigable.
1854: By a French initiative, the viceroy of Egypt, Said Pasha, decides for the project of building a canal that would connect the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.
1858: La Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez is formed to construct the canal. The company, which was owned by both French and Egyptian interests, should both build the canal, and administer it for the following 99 years. After this time, the ownership would pass over to the Egyptian government.1859 April 25: Constructions begin.
1869 November 17: With great splendour, the canal is opened for navigation. Dimensions were 22 metre in bottom width, 58 metre in surface width, and a depth of 8 metres.
1875: The British government buys the Egyptian stocks.
1888: By an international convention, the canal is opened for ships of all nations.
1936: Through a treaty the British receives rights to keep military forces in the canal zone.
1948: Egyptian authorities introduce regulations against the use of the canal by vessels serving Israeli ports.
1954: Agreement between Egypt and Britain that provides for British withdrawal inside the following 7 years.
1956 June: As all British troops have left, Egyptian military moves into British installations.
July 26: Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal.October 31: France and Britain attacks Egypt, under the pretext that they want to open up the Canal for all vessels. Egypt answers with sinking the 40 ships that are inside the canal at the moment.
1957 March: Reopening of the canal, following UN actions to remove the sunk ships.
1962: All original shareholders are paid off.
1967 June 5: In conjunction with the Six-Day War, Egypt closes the canal.
1975 June 5: Reopening of the canal.
— Vessels carrying non-military goods to and from Israel are allowed to pass through the canal.
1979: Unrestricted use for Israel is secured with the peace agreement between the two countries.

Egypt leadership

The crisis also greatly improved Nasser's standing in the Arab world and helped to promote pan-Arabism. It also hastened the process of decolonization as the remaining colonies of both Britain and France became independent over the next several years. In reaction to the war, the Egyptian government expelled almost 25,000 Egyptian Jews and confiscated their property, and sent approximately 1,000 more Jews to prisons and detention camps.[1]

Egypt blames Israel

Several Egyptian "security experts" and "political analysts" interviewed by Arab TV stations after the Sharm e-Sheikh bombings on Saturday claimed that Israel and Jews were behind the carnage.

The accusations were made despite a claim of responsibility by a group citing ties to al-Qaida, according to a statement posted on an Islamic Web site.

Similar charges have been made against Israel in the past, particularly after the suicide attack at the Taba Hilton Hotel in October 2004 and after the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington.

However, most Egyptian government officials refrained from accusing Israel, pointing out that extremist Muslim groups were most likely responsible for the attacks.

Shortly after the attacks, Egypt's state-run television interviewed retired army general Fuad Allam. He said that he was almost certain that Israel was behind the attacks at Sharm e-Sheikh and Taba.

According to Fuad, investigations have shown that the mastermind of the Taba attack was a Palestinian "apparently linked to Israel's security forces." He added: "I'm almost certain that Israel was also behind this attack because they want to undermine our government and deal a severe blow to our economy. The only ones who benefit from these attacks are the Israelis and the Americans."

Allam's remarks were reaired several times during
the day by Egyptian TV. Other commentators who made similar charges against Israel included political figures and prominent journalists.

Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, the Arab world's leading satellite TV stations, also hosted a number of commentators who claimed that Israel was behind the latest wave of terror in Egypt.
Dia Rashwan, an expert on Islamic terror groups, said in a phone interview with Al-Arabiya from Cairo: "Israel is the only country that benefits from this."

Dismissing the theory that al-Qaida was behind the attacks, Rashwan explained: "We are giving al-Qaida more credit than it deserves. What happened here negates the possibility that the attacks were carried out by ordinary elements. This is the work of an extraordinary element – one that benefits from such attacks. All the available details indicate that only the Israelis could have done this."

Majdi Birnawi, another "security expert," told Al-Jazeera that "I believe that Mossad or some other [Israeli] security organization carried out this attack."

Birnawi said he believed Saturday's attacks were in response to the attack at the Taba Hilton, in which 12 Israelis were killed. "Everyone knows that there are no Israelis in Sharm e-Sheikh," he said. "There are only Western tourists there. That's why it's wrong to assume that the perpetrators were targeting Israelis."

Source

Egyptian experts say Mossad could be behind bombings

7/25/2005 3:12:00 PM GMT

Several Egyptian security experts and political analysts said that the Mossad, Israel's spy agency, was behind Saturday's attacks on the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh.

Similar accusations were made against Israel in the past, particularly after last year's attack at the Taba Hotel in October and after the 9/11 attacks in the United States.

Saturday's pre-dawn blasts killed more than 64 people, according to Egypt's health ministry, although hospital officials put the toll as high as 88.

Many Egyptian security officials said at least one car used in the bombings had special plates indicating it had come from the Israeli border at Taba on the Sinai peninsula.

On Saturday, Egypt's state-run television interviewed retired army general Fuad Allam, who said that he was confident that Israel played a key role in Sharm al-Sheikh bombings.

Fuad also said that investigations showed that the mastermind of the Taba attack, which killed more than 34 people, was a Palestinian "apparently linked to Israel's security forces."

He added: "I'm almost certain that Israel was also behind this attack because they want to undermine our government and deal a severe blow to our economy. The only ones who benefit from these attacks are the Israelis and the Americans."

Other Egyptian political figures and prominent journalists and editors interviewed by Arabic TV channels made similar accusations.

Dia Rashwan, a political expert, said that Israel is the only country that benefits from such attacks.

Dismissing the idea that "al-Qaeda" was behind the bombings, Rashwan explained: "We are giving al- Qaeda more credit than it deserves. What happened here negates the possibility that the attacks were carried out by ordinary elements. This is the work of an extraordinary element – one that benefits from such attacks. All the available details indicate that only the Israelis could have done this."

Majdi Birnawi, another security expert, said that the Mossad was behind the attacks. "I believe that Mossad or some other [Israeli] security organization carried out this attack,"

Birnawi said he believed the Sharm el-Sheikh bombings were related to the Taba attacks, in which 12 Israelis were killed. "Everyone knows that there are no Israelis in Sharm e-Sheikh," he said.

"There are only Western tourists there. That's why it's wrong to assume that the perpetrators were targeting Israelis."

Six Pakistani suspects

Meanwhile, news agencies reported that Egyptian police are searching for six Pakistani citizens in connection with Sharm el-Sheikh bombings.

They have distributed photographs of the six men.

The six wanted Pakistanis were staying at a hotel in Sharm al-Sheikh and had left their passports at the reception, police said.

Egyptian authorities have already arrested close to 100 people in connection with the attacks, and Interior Minister Habib al-Adly said investigators already had leads.

The deadly bombings were strongly condemned by the Egyptian public.

More than 1,000 Egyptian hotel workers, bedouin sheikhs and foreign dive school instructors rallied through Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday to denounce the attacks.

"There is no God but God and terrorism is the enemy of God," chanted the Egyptian protesters, including hotel chefs, technicians and road sweepers, as they marched along the main road of Sharm el-Sheikh. Source

The Egyptian analyst also added that Israel wants undermine its own disengagement plan - yet another reason, he said, to carry out attacks in Egypt.

The analyst told Al-Jazeera there is an abnormal concentration of Israelis visiting in Sinai and that they pose a security threat.

"Why are Israelis able to enter Sinai without undergoing stringent security checks?" the analyst asked.

He went on to add that the United States also has a motive to carry out such an attack.

The analyst closed his Al-Jazeera interview by saying that Israel wants to prove what he described as its fallacious claim that terrorism is spreading throughout the region.

Following the bombings, rumors spread across Egypt indicating that the bomb-laden cars used to attack the Sinai resorts sported Israeli license plates.

Egyptian security sources said at least one car that blew up on Saturday had special plates indicating it had crossed over from Israel at the Taba border terminal on the Sinai Peninsula. The veracity of this report was not confirmed.