‘Surrender of top ISIS Sinai official will alter landscape’
The recent surrender of a key ISIS Sinai operations official to Egypt may signal a paradigm shift in the years-long battle between the sides, according to a Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center report.
The report states that on September 10, Muhammad Sa’ad Kamel al-Sa’idi, aka Abu Hamza al-Qadi (“the judge”) surrendered to a tribal militia cooperating with the Egyptian army after promises that he and his family would not be harmed.
Next, the report says that, “Information that reached the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center revealed details about al-Qadi and the conditions in the Sinai Province.”
The intelligence center is made up of former senior Israeli intelligence officials and maintains close ties to the current intelligence community, occasionally receiving exclusive material to declassify.
From the report, it emerges that Al-Qadi is “the second or third most important operative in the Province after the Emir (“commander”) and possibly one other person, making him the most senior figure in the Sinai Province to surrender to the Egyptian authorities” to date.
What is even more important is the Meir Amit Center’s contention that “the surrender of al-Qadi… will severely damage the organization, because he will give valuable information and intelligence to the Egyptian authorities and because his surrender will be a blow to the operatives’ morale.”
This is also true because ISIS Sinai currently suffers “from a lack of funds and equipment… from severe hunger… the result of the Egyptian army’s operational successes and
under the auspices of the international Quartet and in accordance with United Nations resolutions.”
As a first step in that direction he called on the UN to convene a peace conference held under the sole auspices of the Quartet, which is composed of the UN, the EU, the United States and Russia.
In addition to pushing for a two-state solution based on the Resolution 181 borders, Abbas said the PA after a year would also ask the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion stating that Israel’s occupation was illegal under international law.
It’s a move, he said, that could threat the foundations of the Israeli state. “Colonialism and apartheid are prohibited under international law and they are crimes that must be confronted and [it is] a regime that needs to be dismantled,” Abbas said.
Abbas also called on Guterres to develop a mechanism by
which Palestinians would be given international protection against Israel and to “activate this mechanism on the borders of the occupied State of Palestine in 1967, including east Jerusalem.”
He called on nations that have not yet done so, to unilaterally recognize Palestine as a state.
“I wonder what prevents countries that recognize Israel from recognizing the State of Palestine, since they support the two-state solution,” he said.
“This is a moment of truth with the occupying power. We are at a crossroads; we have had enough. This situation cannot continue and our people cannot endure it any longer,” Abbas said.
“You cannot claim peace and security for yourselves alone. Leave us be!” Abbas exclaimed.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz in an interview Saturday with Channel 13, did not seem rattled by Abbas’s ultimatum, noting that in the end, Israelis and Palestinians have to work together. Gantz who has met with Abbas, said he would speak with him also in the future.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan issued a sharp response.
“In his speech at the UN, Abu Mazen proved once again that he is no longer relevant. It is no coincidence that 80% of Palestinians want him to leave his position,” Erdan said.
“He once offered to sue the United Kingdom over the Balfour Declaration. Today, he wants to return to the UN Partition Plan. But most important of all, he lied about the Palestinians refusal to make peace,” he said.
“Those who truly support peace and negotiations do not threaten delusional ultimatums from the UN platform as he did in his speech.” •