Report: Israel Amps Up Military Activity in the Sinai
Written by Yona Schnitzer/TPS on June 25, 2018
The London based Arabic language newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, reported Monday that Israel has recently stepped up its military activity in the Sinai Peninsula. According to the report, Israel has been using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in order to carry out strikes in the areas of Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid, hitting vehicles, tunnels and buildings in the north of the peninsula.
The military actions were attributed to Israel after the Egyptian military failed to announce them as part of a wide scale training operation taking place in the Sinai, as well as eyewitness reports of sightings of Israeli aircrafts in the area. Furthermore, broadcasts by ISIS affiliated media in the region have also pointed a finger at Israel as being behind the attacks.
The report mentioned that while Israeli activity in the Sinai is not new, it has recently risen significantly. In February, The New York Times reported that Israel has carried out over 100 different attacks in the Sinai over the course of two years, with permission from and coordination with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The NYT report quoted American military officials as saying that the IDF has been working in coordination with the Egyptian military in order to drive ISIS and other terrorist organizations out of the Sinai.
