ISMAILIA/CAIRO: A Russian airliner carrying 224 passengers and crew crashed in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula on Saturday, the Egyptian civil aviation authority said, and a security officer who arrived on the scene said all aboard the plane were probably dead.
RIA News Agency, quoting a Russian Aviation Authority source, said the plane was carrying 7 crew, 200 adult passengers and 17 children.
The Airbus A-321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia with registration number KGL-9268, was flying from the Sinai Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg in Russia when it went down in a desolate mountainous area of central Sinai soon after daybreak, the aviation ministry said.
It took off at 5:51 a.m. Cairo time (0351 GMT) and disappeared from radar screens 23 minutes later, Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement.
The plane was completely destroyed and all those on board are likely to have died, the Egyptian security officer who arrived at the scene told Reuters by telephone.
Egyptian security sources said there was no indication that the Airbus jet had been shot down or blown up.
Sinai-based militants who support Islamic State have killed hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police and have also attacked Western targets in recent months.
After delays caused by poor weather conditions, Egyptian search and rescue teams located the site of the crash in the Hassana area 35 km (22 miles) south of the Sinai Mediterranean coastal city of Al Arish, the aviation ministry statement said.
The plane was at an altitude of 31,000 feet (9,400 meters) when it vanished from radar screens, it said. Rescue service sources said so far five ambulances had managed to reach the venue of the crash.
An article uploaded on Wikipedia about the air crash said the Airbus A321 was owned and leased from AerCap and was 18 years old at the time of the incident.
“The aircraft was initally delivered to Lebanese airline Middle East Airlines on 25 May 1997. It was transferred to Kolavia in March 2012 and then to Metrojet in May 2012. The aircaft was powered by two IAE V2533 engines and configured to carry 220 passengers in an economy configuration,” the article said.
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Russian airliner with 224 on board crashes in Sinai
Russian airliner with 224 on board crashes in Sinai
Israeli minister says army to occupy all Gaza if Hamas does not disarm
JERUSALEM: Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Monday that Palestinian Islamist group Hamas may soon be given a deadline to lay down its weapons.
“We estimate that in the coming days, Hamas will be given an ultimatum to disarm and completely demilitarise Gaza,” Smotrich said in an interview with public broadcaster Kansas
“If it does not comply with it, the IDF (Israeli army) will have international legitimacy and American backing to do it itself, and the IDF is already preparing for this and is making plans,” said the minister, who is a member of Israel’s security cabinet charged with approving large-scale military operations.
Under the first phase of a US-sponsored ceasefire in Gaza that halted two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli army withdrew to positions behind a so-called Yellow Line, but still controls over half of the territory.
The second phase that officially began last month plans for a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli army and the disarmament of Hamas, which the militant group has vehemently opposed.
“The (Israeli military) will definitely enter and occupy Gaza if Hamas does not disband,” Smotrich said.
Asked how the military would do this, he said “there are two or three alternatives right now that we are examining.”
The peace plan put forward by US President Donald Trump also calls for the establishment of a 20,000-strong peacekeeping force, called the International Stabilization Force (ISF), to which several countries have committed troops.
Asked how the Israeli army would operate against Hamas when foreign soldiers are deployed on the ground, Smotrich said the latter would “pull out very quickly and allow the (Israeli military) to enter. This is coordinated with the Americans.”
“By the way, I don’t yet see them going in that fast,” he added of the ISF.
“We estimate that in the coming days, Hamas will be given an ultimatum to disarm and completely demilitarise Gaza,” Smotrich said in an interview with public broadcaster Kansas
“If it does not comply with it, the IDF (Israeli army) will have international legitimacy and American backing to do it itself, and the IDF is already preparing for this and is making plans,” said the minister, who is a member of Israel’s security cabinet charged with approving large-scale military operations.
Under the first phase of a US-sponsored ceasefire in Gaza that halted two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli army withdrew to positions behind a so-called Yellow Line, but still controls over half of the territory.
The second phase that officially began last month plans for a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli army and the disarmament of Hamas, which the militant group has vehemently opposed.
“The (Israeli military) will definitely enter and occupy Gaza if Hamas does not disband,” Smotrich said.
Asked how the military would do this, he said “there are two or three alternatives right now that we are examining.”
The peace plan put forward by US President Donald Trump also calls for the establishment of a 20,000-strong peacekeeping force, called the International Stabilization Force (ISF), to which several countries have committed troops.
Asked how the Israeli army would operate against Hamas when foreign soldiers are deployed on the ground, Smotrich said the latter would “pull out very quickly and allow the (Israeli military) to enter. This is coordinated with the Americans.”
“By the way, I don’t yet see them going in that fast,” he added of the ISF.
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