Israel Hit By Grad Rockets from Gaza

Grad rockets have hit the Israeli southern towns of Ofakim and Netivot. They were sent by the Hammas controlled Gaza strip, following the uprising in Egypt. No injuries were reported.

On Monday evening, one Grad missile fell near Netivot and caused serious damage to a car. Another rocket hit Ofakim. A few people were terrified, but no one was injured so far.

These attacks from the Gaza strip were fired following the uprising in Egypt. Bedouins in the Sinai peninsula fought Egyptian forces in the past few days, as part of the uprising against the regime of president Hosni Mubarak.

With the approval of Israel, 800 Egyptian soldiers crossed the Suez canal and reinforced the limited forced stationed in the Sinai peninsula, in order to take control over the situation. This is a violation of the peace treaty signed by Israel and Egypt in 1979, but was approved by both sides.

Egyptian situation

Who will succeed Mubarak and Omar Suleiman? There’s no answer to this question. One option is the Muslim Brotherhood. The  Islamic  movement isn’t supportive of the peace treaty with Israel.

Mohammed Ghanem, one of the leaders of the  Muslim Brotherhood, called for war against Israel. Is the Hammas hearing his call in Gaza?

Speaking of the Egyptian army, it seems more and more certain that the Egyptian army is leaning towards the protesters and abandoning Mubark’s  authoritarian rule. They decided not to confront the protesters and to honor the people.

Escalation in the Egyptian crisis will push the US dollar, Japanese yen and Swiss Franc higher, while it sends the Euro, British Pound, the Australian dollar lower.

Forex impact

Note that the USD/CAD is pushed by higher oil prices (caused by the speculations about the closure of the Suez canal) and risk aversive trading that  strengthens  the dollar.