The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday continued its vigilant watch over the Sinai border in an attempt to thwart what security officials have said is an impending terror attack by Gaza-based terrorists who have crossed into the Sinai and are planning to enter Israel.
Both sides of the Sinai border have been the site of military activity throughout the week as the IDF and the Egyptian army have worked to prevent the terrorist attack and to bolster defense of their borders.
Defense Ministry Policy and Political-Military Affairs Director Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad told Army Radio on Tuesday morning that Israel had received “a concrete terror alert based on quality intelligence” that a terror cell from Islamic Jihad in Gaza was operating in the Sinai Peninsula and planning to perpetrate an attack on southern Israel. Israel and Egypt were coordinating efforts to thwart the attack, Gilad said.
The terror alert in the south was announced on Monday via all Israeli media outlets in the hopes that the plot might be averted if it was revealed. Before the warning, Israel's Political-Security Cabinet convened for a special meeting Saturday night and voiced its concern that terrorists would try to repeat the “success” of the multi-pronged Aug.18 attack, in which Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees terrorist cells crossed into Israel from Sinai and ambushed Israeli vehicles, killing eight people and wounding dozens more. “Their goal is to damage the Israel-Egypt peace treaty. The desire [to ruin the treaty] is greater than their desire to kill ‘only' Israelis,” a senior defense official told Israel Hayom on Monday.
The IDF dispersed numerous forces along the border in response to the threat. Armored vehicles, defense posts and a large contingent of infantry have been deployed to confront the terrorist cell, which reportedly has at least 10 members still in the Sinai. Soldiers from the Golani and Givati Brigades as well as soldiers in commanders’ courses have been tasked with protecting the porous border, as well as Route 12, which runs parallel to it. Civilian vehicles currently must have authorization to drive on Route 12 and, if given permission, receive a military escort.
Meanwhile the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, headed by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, purchased 100 bomb shelters to be installed near schools in southern Israel. Homefront Defense Minister Matan Vilnai attended the ceremony marking the installation of the first shelter, in the southern city of Ofakim. “Finance Ministry officials need to allocate more funds for the protection of educational institutions,” Vilnai said. “While we are paying [Hamas] back [for its rocket attacks], we must prepare for the fact that the rocket threat won't be gone this year or the next.”
