Jordan attack

Six rockets were fired towards Eilat from the Egyptian Sinai on Monday. Two of them fell into the sea, one landed on the beach at Egyptian Taba, one landed near Eilat causing no damage or injury and two landed in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba. One person was killed and five people were injured by one of the rockets that exploded in a street in Aqaba. It is difficult to know if these rockets were deliberately targeted on Aqaba/Jordan because Aqaba is only a few kilometers from Eilat. However, such inaccuracy seems unlikely. The Egyptian authorities initially denied that the rockets came from Sinai. But, this is the most likely origin since terrorists from Gaza and Egypt have been known to operate in Sinai, and there have been several major bombings in Sinai. No group has claimed credit for firing these rockets.

Jordanian King Abdullah issued a statement blaming "terrorists that want to thwart the peace process." Terrorists such as those of Hamas and al Qaeda consider Jordan as much of an enemy as Israel, because King Abdullah played a role in persuading the Arab League to vote for the re-start of direct talks between Israel and the PA, subject to certain conditions. The aim of these extremist Sunni Islamist groups is to establish a new international Caliphate, and the current Arab regimes are seen as an impediment to their goal. While there is not much public acknowledgement of cooperation between Israel and Jordan, cooperation between the IDF and the Jordanian Army is known to take place, particularly in the area of security. Both the US State Dept. and the Russian Foreign MInistry issued statements condemning the firing of rockets on Israeli and Jordanian cities.

These attacks tend to push Israel and Jordan together. The rockets were manufactured in Iran, and the Sunni Muslim countries see the Shi'ite Iranians as the major enemy to their existence. There is a working relationship between Sunni Hamas and Shia Iran, even though they are distinct, because they have the same enemies, Israel, the Arab regimes and the USA. In due course, if such attacks continue, they could have the result of causing the Sunni Muslim Arab countries to cooperate further with Israel and the US in attempting to thwart Iran's hegemonic ambitions.