Tel Aviv confirms continued security coordination with Al-Sisi

Tel Aviv has confirmed continued security and military coordination-particularly regarding the Sinai Peninsula and tunnels between Egypt and the Gaza Strip – with the Egyptian army represented by Defence Minister, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. Al-Sisi led the military coup against the Egyptian President, Mohammed Morsi.

Israeli radio quoted a senior Israeli military source as saying that coordination and cooperation with the Egyptian army is continuing, noting that the Egyptian army will work in the Sinai Peninsula “to restore calm”, especially in light of the challenges it is facing from Jihadi elements, he said. The same source also pointed to coordination between the Egyptian and Israeli army regarding the tunnels that scattered along the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip. The source explained that “closing the tunnels which lead to the Gaza Strip is a painful blow to Hamas,” especially in light of the siege on the Gaza Strip that has continued for more than six years.

In the same context, media outlets close to the Palestinian Authority quoted Egyptian military sources as saying that coordination between the Egyptian and Israeli sides is taking place in preparation for the entry of military vehicles, soldiers and aircrafts into the Sinai to fight “terrorism”. The media also reported that the Egyptian army had discovered seven boxes containing bombs and live ammunition at the entrance to a tunnel in the Brahmas district in Rafah. No additional details about the incident were given.