With investigations underway, military observers told Amira Ibrahim that Egypt needed to be more assertive in order to stop further Israeli aggressive actions on its borders Israel apologised to Egypt for last week's incident, saying its soldiers had mistaken the Egyptians for Palestinian militants. Military observers described the apology as nonsense. "It was a deliberate act and an intentional violation of the peace treaty," said a military source. "The Israeli army uses the most advanced technology provided by the US to allegedly fight terrorists. Identifying targets is not just the tank's mission, but is usually controlled by helicopters and command centres which check and examine information before giving the order to open fire. Our belief is that the Israelis aimed to measure Egypt's response and reaction to such a violent act," he said. The Rafah area, located along the Egyptian border with Gaza, has been a frequent flashpoint of violence. Every now and then, Israel claims to have discovered secret tunnels used to provide the Palestinian resistance with weapons. The most recent such claim was made the day after last week's "accidental" Israeli shooting of three Egyptian border policemen. It was not the first time Israeli violations of the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt had caused tension. Israeli forces have often pursued Palestinian civilians near the border in Gaza. Egyptian civilians on the other side of the border have been injured and killed by stray bullets from such events. These tragedies are usually followed by Israeli apologies. A police officer was shot in just such an incident in January 2003. In October 2003, a ten-year-old child was shot while playing next to his house. Schools in the Egyptian town of Rafah do not have outdoor assembly lines in fear of Israeli shooting across the border. Some observers blamed Egypt for not responding strongly enough to previous incidents. Not only did the Foreign Ministry not take a strong enough stand, they said, but also not enough international support was mobilised. Egypt's inability to garner international support for its efforts to bring Israel to justice for the Egyptian POWs who were mass murdered or buried alive in Sinai during the Israeli occupation of the peninsula, has also encouraged Israelis to violate all international rules, said retired Major General Talaat Musalim, a military expert. "As such, an [Israeli] tank has now opened fire for the first time across the Egyptian border." Musalim indicated that Israel has consistently made clear that "they can not believe that they are no longer occupying Sinai." As such, they have always made suggestions that Palestinians should move to Sinai, or that Egypt should rent the peninsula to the Israeli government for other purposes. Egypt regained sovereignty over the peninsula on 25 April 1982, after reaching a peace agreement with Israel in 1979. The agreement stipulated that Sinai be divided into three zones -- A, B and C -- with a fourth zone -- D -- allocated for the border with the occupied Palestinian territories. Zone A extends 58km from the eastern bank of the Suez Canal and Gulf of Suez. The eastern side of that zone is considered Egypt's main strategic defence line. The Egyptian armed forces have 22,000 troops, 230 tanks, 262 field guns and anti- aircraft canons, and 480 artillery vehicles deployed there. Zone B extends from east Al-Arish in the north to Sharm El-Sheikh in the south with a width that reaches 100km in some areas. Four Egyptian border guard battalions with a maximum force of 4,000 soldiers control it. Zone C extends from zone B to the borderline with Israel and the western bank of the Gulf of Aqaba at the Red Sea. Police units with light weapons control it. The 2.5km-wide zone D, located inside the Israeli border, extends from east Rafah in the north to Eilat in the south. It is controlled by an Israeli force of four infantry battalions with a maximum force of 4,000 soldiers equipped with land/air missiles. No tanks, missile batteries or artillery units are allowed in zone D. To monitor both Egypt and Israel, the 1979 peace treaty stipulated that UN observers and troops carry out certain tasks in Sinai. But due to the former Soviet Union threatening to veto any UN decision to contribute to the Sinai security arrangements, the Security Council failed to reach an agreement on the formation of a peacekeeping force. Consequently, Egypt and Israel, with the help of the US, agreed to form a multinational forces and observers (MFO) force as a substitute for a UN mission. The MFO consists of three infantry battalions; units from Fiji and Colombia are positioned in the middle section of zone C, while a contingent from the US is positioned in the southern section of Sharm El-Sheikh. The forces also include a US administrational unit, an Italian navy unit (three minesweepers positioned at Sharm El-Sheikh port), and a limited French air force unit for supply, medical help and reconnaissance, positioned at Al-Goura, Ras Al- Naqab and Nuweiba airports. Egypt, Israel and the US signed a protocol to implement the agreement on 3 August, 1981. An MFO investigation described the incident as an "Israeli violation" but fell short of calling it intentional. The Rafah incident has also evoked more military concerns. Some observers expressed worries that Egypt might break its peace treaty with Israel and move troops into the demilitarised Sinai zone if Israel does not fulfil its commitment, and if the MFO cannot play an efficient role in stopping aggressive Israeli acts. "It is time to reconsider the terms of the peace treaty with Israel," the military source said. "We're not talking about ending the MFO mission. We're talking about looking at the whole MFO, how it can reconfigure itself, and how it can continue to fulfil its mission more efficiently. "Our thoughts are that there will be discussions among the United States, Egypt, Israel and the MFO leadership on what the missions are, and how the United States can activate its participation. Egypt should also obtain guarantees from the US to prevent any aggression by Israel similar to guarantees given to Israel under the 1979 accord to prevent any aggression by Egypt." Now that Israel plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, these concerns also appear more significant in the light of the latest violation in Rafah. "Egypt should be given the responsibility to secure the Philadelphi Route that separates Egypt from the Gaza Strip," said the military source. "This means putting more soldiers there, and being sure they will be secured in an efficient way. We should also guarantee that no violations take place on the part of the Israelis to avoid the possibility of a military conflict breaking out."
