The Middle East Newsline has confirmed reports that Egypt, amid a troop buildup, has staged a series of military exercises in the Sinai Peninsula.

Egyptian military completed a major 10-day multi-service exercise last month.

The exercise tested the joint capabilities of its air force and infantry, both based on U.S. platforms and weapons.

“The exercises were designed to enhance combat capability,” an official said. “The exercises take place on a regular basis.”

<!–
AdSys ad not found for news/world:instory –>

Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported that the exercise in the Sinai, which borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, contained several stages.

MENA said main battle tanks backed a large infantry force, artillery and F-16 multi-role fighters.

The exercise came amid an Egyptian troop buildup in central and eastern Sinai. Egypt has requested Israeli approval to deploy up to 1,500 soldiers and police along the 10- mile border with the Gaza Strip.

Over the last two years, Israel has sought clarifications over the Egyptian exercises in the Sinai. Egypt and Israel have been at peace since 1979 due to an agreement meant to demilitarize most of the peninsula.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Previous articleChallenge To New Israeli Government
Next articleDurban II Cover- up From the Obama Administration
David Bedein
David Bedein
David Bedein is an MSW community organizer and an investigative journalist.   In 1987, Bedein established the Israel Resource News Agency at Beit Agron to accompany foreign journalists in their coverage of Israel, to balance the media lobbies established by the PLO and their allies.   Mr. Bedein has reported for news outlets such as CNN Radio, Makor Rishon, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, BBC and The Jerusalem Post, For four years, Mr. Bedein acted as the Middle East correspondent for The Philadelphia Bulletin, writing 1,062 articles until the newspaper ceased operation in 2010. Bedein has covered breaking Middle East negotiations in Oslo, Ottawa, Shepherdstown, The Wye Plantation, Annapolis, Geneva, Nicosia, Washington, D.C., London, Bonn, and Vienna. Bedein has overseen investigative studies of the Palestinian Authority, the Expulsion Process from Gush Katif and Samaria, The Peres Center for Peace, Peace Now, The International Center for Economic Cooperation of Yossi Beilin, the ISM, Adalah, and the New Israel Fund.   Since 2005, Bedein has also served as Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research.   A focus of the center's investigations is The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In that context, Bedein authored Roadblock to Peace: How the UN Perpetuates the Arab-Israeli Conflict - UNRWA Policies Reconsidered, which caps Bedein's 28 years of investigations of UNRWA. The Center for Near East Policy Research has been instrumental in reaching elected officials, decision makers and journalists, commissioning studies, reports, news stories and films. In 2009, the center began decided to produce short movies, in addition to monographs, to film every aspect of UNRWA education in a clear and cogent fashion.   The center has so far produced seven short documentary pieces n UNRWA which have received international acclaim and recognition, showing how which UNRWA promotes anti-Semitism and incitement to violence in their education'   In sum, Bedein has pioneered The UNRWA Reform Initiative, a strategy which calls for donor nations to insist on reasonable reforms of UNRWA. Bedein and his team of experts provide timely briefings to members to legislative bodies world wide, bringing the results of his investigations to donor nations, while demanding reforms based on transparency, refugee resettlement and the demand that terrorists be removed from the UNRWA schools and UNRWA payroll.   Bedein's work can be found at: www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com and www.cfnepr.com. A new site,unrwa-monitor.com, will be launched very soon.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR