Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Sinai Helicopter Crash Kills Eight Peacekeepers, Including Six Americans
Error: Contact form not found.
by Reuters and Algemeiner Staff
A look into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula from the Israeli side of the border. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
A helicopter with the US-led Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula crashed on Thursday near the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing eight members of the peacekeeper force, the MFO said.
Those killed were six Americans, a French national and a Czech national, all of them military service members, the MFO said in a statement. It added that one American MFO member survived and was medically evacuated.
An official briefed on the incident, and who could not be identified by name or nationality, told Reuters it was an accident caused by mechanical failure.
The MFO was installed to monitor the demilitarization of the Sinai under the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace accord. It has decreased in size in recent years as the neighboring countries tightened security cooperation against Islamist-led Sinai insurgents.
However both Israel and Egypt have, in the past, opposed proposals by Washington to reduce US participation in the MFO, whose website lists some 452 Americans among the force’s 1,154 military personnel.
Cairo sees the MFO as part of a relationship with Israel that, while unpopular with many Egyptians, has brought it billions of dollars in US defense aid, sweetening the foreign-enforced demilitarization of its sovereign Sinai territory.
For Israel, the MFO offers strategic reassurance in a region where allegiances can shift. In a statement of condolence, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi described the MFO as “extremely important … to maintaining security and stability.”
The MFO statement said the helicopter was on a “routine” mission when it crashed. The Israeli military said in a statement it had offered to send a rescue team to the scene.
According to its website, the MFO draws personnel from 13 countries and covers an area of more than 10,000 square kilometers (3,860 square miles) in Sinai.
