Two rockets were fired at Eilat this morning, causing sirens to ring out in the resort city and the local airport to shut down. The missiles reportedly came from Sinai, a stark change from recent attacks from Gaza, and landed in open fields. There are no reported injuries. “A short while ago two rockets were launched from Sinai and hit open areas in the city of Eilat,” the IDF said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in England for Margaret Thatcher’s funeral, held late night security …More

Swarms of locusts descended on southern Israel this week, prompting a major crop dusting campaign aimed at eradicating the pests. The Agricultural Ministry blamed warm weather and high winds for creating a “perfect storm” for the insect invasion, which is expected to reach millions of locusts in the coming days. In the past few weeks, small swarms of locusts have been entering from Sinai and a few have been spotted in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and as far north as Tsfat. The Agricultural Ministry stressed …More

Egyptian security intercepted six US-made missiles about to be smuggled into Gaza Friday. The weapons were uncovered in northern Sinai, thanks to efforts by Egyptian special police units, border police, military intelligence, and a combat engineer. The missiles, including anti-tank and aircraft projectiles and long-range rockets, are believed to have arrived from Libya. The weapons were already launch-capable. Hamas officials in Gaza have promised since the end of Pillar of Defense to acquire newly smuggled …More

Today, the IDF marks the beginning of the Sinai Campaign, also known as Operation Kadesh, 56 years ago. This campaign changed the face of the Middle East in that era, as Israel insisted on protecting its borders and maintaining its sovereignty in the south. After the 1948 War of Independence, during which the Arab nations surrounding Israel attacked the new state in an effort to prevent its establishment, Israel concentrated on building up its society from within its government, military and civilian …More

On October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a joint attack on Israel. The crusade, undertaken on the holiest date of the Jewish calendar, would forever be known as the Yom Kippur War. Almost 40 years later, Israel still remembers the nearly 2,300 Jewish lives lost during the three weeks of fighting that followed. On the day war erupted, Syria and Egypt crossed ceasefire lines in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights, borders that had been in place since the Six Days War in 1967. At 2 pm, the IDF announced, …More

Israeli intelligence is reporting that an influx in terror attacks across the Sinai is the work of one single group. Rumors circulated over the summer of various groups responsible for the heightened unrest, which recently led to the death of one IDF soldier. Groups like Hamas and local Bedouins were named as possible culprits. Now, reports claim a single jihadist network is responsible. Haaretz released an investigative piece yesterday, citing anonymous intelligence sources who said members of the accused …More

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls "Innocence of Muslims" an Israeli plot. [Jewish Journal of Greater LA] More information is revealed on the IDF soldier killed today during a terrorist plot in the Sinai. [Times of Israel] Vanessa Redgrave wil star alongside Jesse Eisenberg in an upcoming Broadway show. [Times of Israel] Why Jews shouldn't fight last week's consent form ruling for a circumcision custom in NY. [Tablet] The head of Hillel steps down. [Forward] Kosher in prime time. [Forward] …More

An IDF soldier was killed today along the Egypt-Israeli border, as soldiers fought to stymie a terrorist plot aimed at countless more deaths. Three gunmen opened fire on a troop of IDF soldiers along the Sinai Peninsula, in a standoff that lasted for a prolonged amount of time. One soldier was shot in the head and died immediately, while all three terrorists were killed. A second IDF soldier was also injured when a suicide belt on one of the gunmen went off. The soldiers were in the Har Harif area securing work …More

A day after Israel's foreign minister called on Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to visit Israel, a Muslim Brotherhood official called such a visit impossible. "There is no possibility for Morsi to visit the Zionist entity," Gamal Heshmat of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party told an Egyptian online news magazine, Ynet reported. "President Morsi's patriotism will not allow him to do so," Heshmat said, saying that the presidential palace will turn down the invitation. Avigdor Lieberman issued the …More

Egypt’s Defense Minister reportedly told his Israeli counterpart that Egypt is committed to its peace accord with Israel. The call between by Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Israel’s Ehud Barak was initiated by el-Sissi, according to Al-Hayat, a London-based newspaper. The conversation between the two defense ministers is the highest-level direct contact between the neighboring countries since a popular revolution in Egypt saw the overthrow of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak and the subsequent …More

The U.S. State Department called on Egypt to fulfill its obligations under its peace treaty with Israel and deal strongly with security threats in the Sinai. It also asked that Egypt make sure that "lines of communication stay open." In answer to a question about reports that Egypt would move tanks and aircraft into the Sinai for the first time since 1973, U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters that "without getting into our private diplomacy with one country or the other, I would make …More

Egypt reportedly is planning to introduce tanks in the Sinai for the first time since the 1973 war with Israel. The plans, part of the country's attempts to shut down terrorists in the area, are being finalized by Egypt's newly appointed defense minister, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Reuters reported. The movement of military hardware into the Sinai comes after a deadly attack earlier this month on Egyptian border guards that left 16 dead. Part of the assault included an attempt to breach the border with Israel. …More