Harriet Sherwood
Guardian.co.uk
August 6, 2012
The cross-border attack on Israel by militants in the Egyptian Sinai was a highly ambitious and well-planned assault that has left Israeli authorities more certain than ever that the area is out of control – but also with a major dilemma over how to respond.
A serious attack, potentially resulting in the deaths of many Israelis living in small communities near the border, was narrowly averted, according to senior officials.
After killing around 15 Egyptian security personnel at a base in the border town of Rafah, the militants used a pick-up truck filled with explosives to breach the Egypt-Israel border, then drove an armoured vehicle more than a mile into Israel before being struck by a missile fired from an Israeli military plane. Up to eight militants were killed.
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