Gunmen attack Egyptian security outpost and storm Israeli border

Unidentified gunmen attacked an Egyptian army checkpoint in the northern Sinai Peninsula on Sunday, killing 15 soldiers and wounding seven others. The gunmen proceeded to steal at least one armored vehicle and attempted to storm the Israeli border. Israeli Air Forces hit one vehicle at the Kerem Shalom border crossing at the southern edge of the Gaza Strip and said another vehicle had exploded. Violence has escalated in the Sinai region since Egypt’s 2011 uprising raising concerns over the new government’s ability to control over the area. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi condemned the attack saying, "There’s no room to appease this treachery, this aggression and this criminality," continuing that Egyptian forces would gain "full control" over the area and promising "those behind the attacks will pay a high price." An Egyptian official blamed the attack on "Jihadist elements" and the Egyptian military called the attackers "infidels" saying there would be a reaction to the assault soon. Relations between Israel and Egypt have been fragile since the election of the Islamist Morsi, as Israel as been particularly concerned the new government will contrast that of Hosni Mubarak who had cooperated with Israel and abided by the 1979 peace agreement.

Syria

Syrian Prime Minster Riyad Farid Hijab has defected from the Syrian regime and has reportedly crossed into Jordan with his family. Syrian state television, SANA, claimed Hijab had been fired, but an official source stated he had been let go only after he had defected. According to the opposition Syrian National Council, Hijab was accompanied by two ministers and three army generals. If reports are verified, Hijab would be the highest level defection in the 17 month conflict. Meanwhile, a bomb exploded at a Syrian state TV and radio building in Damascus, wounding three people. The broadcasting was not disrupted. Additionally, Syrian opposition forces captured 48 Iranians as they were traveling through Damascus on a bus on Saturday. Iran has requested help from Turkey and Qatar for the return of men who Iran insists were religious pilgrims. The Syrian opposition claimed the group had been conducting surveillance in Syria’s capital and said they had found evidence that one of the Iranians has ties to the Revolutionary Guards. Violent clashes continued throughout the weekend across Syria, killing an estimated 260 people, primarily in Damascus and Aleppo.

Headlines  

• Libya’s Red Cross is suspending activity in Benghazi and Misrata after an attack on Sunday on a staff residence.
• Clashes spurred by a Kurdish militant attack on an army outpost in Turkey’s Hakkari province killed at least 19 people as Turkish forces have stepped up operations against Kurdish militants in the past two weeks.
• A suicide bomber killed 45 people and wounded dozens in Yemen’s southern city of Jaar.
• Libya’s National Transitional Council will hand over power to the recently elected 200-member national assembly on August 8.
• Iranian state television broadcasted the "confessions" of several Iranians from a group of 13 to the killing of four Iranian nuclear scientists and implicated the United States and Israel.

Arguments & Analysis 

‘Islam and the Arab Awakening‘ (Tariq Ramadan, Guernica Magazine)

"The ambitions and wide-ranging activism of the present Turkish government warrant a far more detailed analysis of their objectives and strategies. Does Turkey represent the path that future Arab democracies should follow?…Do its commitment to strong economic growth and a new strategy of international relations represent a step forward, a means to an end-or an end in itself? These are the issues that lie at the heart of any discussion of the Turkish model, whether it is viewed positively or critically. The same issues are of utmost relevance to the future of the Arab awakening, and to the capacity of Arab societies to explore new paths, new ways of posing questions, new ways of charting the development of civil society, to create a new paradigm in international relations. The Turkish model, I am convinced, should be seen as a means rather than an end."

‘Syria, a path to justice’ (Clive Baldwin and Lotte Leicht, OpenDemocracy)

The European Union has long professed its unwavering commitment to fighting impunity and pursuing international justice. It has backed this claim by portraying itself as the staunchest supporter of the International Criminal Court (ICC). In relation to Syria, however, the EU has in both respects failed to practise what it preaches, For, faced with crimes against humanity and war crimes in Syria that show no signs of abating, Europe’s commitment to justice has proved at best tepid and inconsistent.

‘Israel’s Fading Democracy‘ (Avraham Burg, The New York Times)

"When an American presidential candidate visits Israel and his key message is to encourage us to pursue a misguided war with Iran, declaring it "a solemn duty and a moral imperative" for America to stand with our warmongering prime minister, we know that something profound and basic has changed in the relationship between Israel and the United States."

–By Jennifer Parker & Mary Casey