MIDDLE EAST: Israeli Foreign Ministry condemns rocket salvo on Israel's and Jordan's Red Sea ports

Record ID: 742180

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Israeli Foreign Ministry condemns rocket salvo on Israel's and Jordan's Red Sea ports
  • Date: 3rd August 2010
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (AUGUST 2, 2010) (REUTERS) ISRAELI DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER DANNY AYALON WORKING AT DESK AYALON WRITING (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER DANNY AYALON SAYING: "Well we of course view it with the utmost severity, it's a very serious attack perpetrated by a global Jihad and their proxies here. It's a whole network, Hamas and Hezbollah, it's a
  • Embargoed: 18th August 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA5HQ02Q3NSMFHBA2NF3FZQXR0I
  • Story Text: Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister condemned on Monday (August 2) a rocket attack which struck the Red Sea ports of Eilat and Aqaba.
    There was no word of casualties in the Israeli port of Eilat, police said, but satellite television station al Arabiya said four people were wounded in Jordan's Aqaba, across the bay. Police also added that the short-range rocket salvo was fired from the Egyptian Sinai, an area where Islamist militants have operated in the past.
    "Well we of course view it with the utmost severity, it's a very serious attack perpetrated by a global Jihad and their proxies here. It's a whole network, Hamas and Hezbollah, it's an attempt not just to attack Israel and the neighbouring countries but also to destabilise the entire situation in the Middle East. There are interests here to destabilise by Iran, Hezbollah and by Hamas," Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told Reuters Television.
    Israel offered help to neighbouring Jordan after the attack, "Of course we condemned the attack on Jordan in no uncertain terms and we will always offer any cooperation or any help which is needed," Ayalon added.
    Eilat District Police said they are still trying to confirm that five explosions heard in the morning had been caused by shelling.
    Eilat Mayor Meir Yitzhak Halevy said the tourist hot spot would continue life as usual in the wake of the attack.
    "Our answer to these hostile fundamentalist groups is, you will not get what you want. We will continue our lives, this magical city will continue to give good tourist services. The security forces will know how to handle these hostile groups in order to eradicate this evil," Halevy said.
    Two of the suspected rockets or mortar bombs appeared to have landed in the sea, while another struck Aqaba, police said.
    The Red Sea region has witnessed similar attacks in the past.
    At least one rocket struck Aqaba on April 22, causing no casualties. Amman said the rocket had been fired from outside Jordan and Israeli media spoke of the Sinai as a possible launch point.
    In 2005, rockets were fired at U.S. warships in Aqaba's port but missed their target and killed a Jordanian soldier on land. A group claiming links to al Qaeda said it was behind the attack.
    Two years later, a Palestinian suicide bomber infiltrated through the Sinai and killed three people at an Eilat bakery.
    Jordan and Egypt are the only Arab states to have full peace accords with Israel. Those ties were frayed by Israel's crackdown in 2000 on a Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register