An article published by the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awasat newspaper suggests that terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula are planning to target Arab-Israelis as part of a larger plan to cause damage to the Sinai tourism industry and Egypt's economy in general.
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"They have come out of hiding to carry out terrorist attacks in an attempt to create anarchy in the Sinai Peninsula, to undermine the Egyptian army and avenge Morsi's ouster," he said.
Egyptian army in Rafah after Morsi ouster (Photo: AFP)
According to the source, those same organizations know that their activity will hurt their public image and are therefore trying to balance this by hurting Israelis.
"The attacks will target Israeli citizens in general, and Jewish citizens in particular," he added. "According to my information, for the first time they also want to hurt Arab-Israelis ."
He stressed that the Egyptian public's aversion to the cooperation between the Muslim Brotherhood and Israel has led the movement to try and initiate terror attacks.
Photo: AFP
"Tourists are an easy target. Sinai has become a hotbed of Brotherhood supporters and the security forces don't have complete control over the region."
According to defense source quoted by the Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, the terrorists are planning to lay explosives near defense facilities and tourist centers in Sinai and fire missiles at those targets.
Last weekend saw dozens of terrorists affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood leaving the Gaza Strip heading to Sinai in order to fight the Egyptian army. They have since taken part in battles in El-Arish and attacked several Egyptian army posts.