Egyptian military officials have confirmed today that they are in the process of drafting plans for a full scale military assault on the Gaza Strip, following recent reports from Palestinian outlets of Egyptian drone overflights, apparently to select targets.
The Egypt junta, in power for three months, has made a military offensive against the Sinai Peninsula a centerpiece of their new policy, and they have blamed factions inside the Gaza Strip for the lack of success in Sinai.
The shift toward hostility against the tiny Palestinian enclave came virtually the moment the coup began, with the junta accusing the ousted Egyptian civilian government of ties with Hamas, and the military began massing forces along the Gaza border even before imposing military rule.
Maj. Gen. Ahmed Wasfy, the commander of the Sinai offensive, reiterated the claims that factions in Gaza are undermining junta policy, but said that the decision to invade the strip outright would be a political, and not military one. Since the military has effective control over the “interim” government, this is a distinction with no real difference.
