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Wed, Feb 09, 2011 | The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center

Ismail Haniya, head of the de facto Hamas administration, welcomes Ayman Nofel on his return to the Gaza Strip after he escaped from an Egyptian prison (Ma'an News Agency, February 6, 2011).

Expected Fallout From the Events in Egypt

The Hamas Administration Claims a Shortage of Fuels Following the Events in Egypt

The Palestinian media reported that since the Egyptian uprising began a significant number of the smuggling tunnels under the Egyptian-Gaza Strip border are no longer being used. According to the tunnel owners, smuggling has been made difficult for the following reasons:

— There is greater deployment of Egyptian security and army forces in the area, hampering the free operation of the tunnels.

— The Sinai Peninsula Bedouins are exploiting the situation and organizing into armed gangs to hijack trucks carrying merchandise (Al-Ayam and Qudsnet, February 6, 2011).

Following the decrease in tunnel smuggling, the de facto Hamas administration has claimed that since the beginning of February a shortage of diesel fuel and gasoline has been felt at most of the gas stations in the Gaza Strip. Ibrahim Jabbar, deputy economic minister in the de facto Hamas administration, said that large quantities of fuel were imported into the Gaza Strip and that the crisis will be resolved in the coming days. However, the ministry instituted fuel rationing (Hamas’ Safa News Agency, February 5 and 7, 2011).

Ayman Nofel Escapes from Egyptian Jail and Returns to the Gaza Strip

The Palestinian and Arab media reported that since the beginning of the Egyptian uprising 27 Palestinians have escaped from Egyptian prisons and that most of them returned to the Gaza Strip. Among them was Ayman Nofel, Hamas’ Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades commander for the central Gaza Strip sector. Ayman Nofel was welcomed back to the Gaza Strip by Ismail Haniya, head of the de facto Hamas administration (Al-Akhbar, February 3; Hamas’ Palestine-info website, February 5; Ma’an News Agency, February 6, 2011).

Egypt Accuse the Army of Islam of Blowing Up the Egyptian Gas Pipe and Other Terrorist Attacks

Egyptian “security sources” stated that operatives belonging to the Army of Islam, a global jihad-affiliated network operating in the Gaza Strip, were apparently involved in several attacks recently carried out in Egyptian territory, including blowing up a building which belonged to Egyptian national security interrogations in El Arish (February 4), blowing up a terminal of the pipe which transports gas from Egypt to Jordan (February 5) and blowing up a church in Rafah (February 6) (Al-Ahram and the Masrawi website, February 6, 2011).^[1]

Egypt Fears Hamas and Hezbollah Subversion and Terrorist Attacks

Following the recent events, Egypt has expressed fears that Hamas, Hezbollah and other organizations will exploit the situation to carry out terrorist attacks, smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip and harm the Egyptian authorities. For that reason the Egyptian attorney general’s office announced the arrest of five men. Two of them were Palestinians who had infiltrated into Egypt from the Gaza Strip with weapons which apparently belonged to Hamas’ Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. According to another report, eleven Hamas operatives were arrested with weapons, explosives and ammunition in their possession. The claim was also made that Palestinians were captured who had distributed inflammatory propaganda to demonstrators (Al-Yawm Al-Saba’a, February 2; Al-Akhbar, February 3, 2011).

Demonstrations in support of the Egyptian people and in support of Mubarak

This past week the first Egyptian-related demonstrations were held in the Palestinian Authority and Gaza Strip, some of them in support of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and some of them against him.

The usual anti-Israel demonstrations and riots were held at the usual friction points, particularly in the villages of Bila’in and Ni’lin. They expressed solidarity with the Egyptian people in their “popular struggle” against the Egyptian regime. The demonstrators were Palestinians, Israeli civilians and foreigners. They threw stones at the Israeli security forces, who responded with riot control measures (Ma’an News Agency, February 4, 2011).

Demonstration in support of the Egyptian people in Ramallah (Hamas' Safa News Agency, February 5, 2011).

On February 2 a demonstration was held in Ramallah in support of President Mubarak attended by, according to reports, hundreds of participants (PalPress website, February 2, 2011). However, on February 5 hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in Ramallah in support of the Egyptian people and against President Mubarak. Dozens of Palestinians participated in a demonstration in Bethlehem (Ma’an News Agency, February 5, 2011).

In the Gaza Strip, hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in front of the Egyptian embassy to express solidarity with the Egyptian demonstrators and against the Mubarak regime (PIJ Paltoday website, February 3, 2011).

Note:

[1] For further information about the involvement of the Army of Islam in terrorist attacks in Egypt, see the February 8, 2011 article, “Islamic Jihadi Groups May Try to Exploit Egypt’s Turmoil”.