Interior Ministry in Gaza ready to cooperate with Egypt on kidnapped soldiers

The Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza condemned on Thursday the kidnapping of Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula near to the city of Al-Arish.

It also issued orders for stricter security measures at the terminals of the tunnels between Egypt and the Strip which are being used to smuggle commodities to Gaza out of fear that they will be used by the kidnappers.

The Ministry described the kidnapping as a “cowardly act” that is targeting Egypt’s security and internal stability.

In an effort to trace the perpetrators, the Ministry has said that it is ready for any kind of cooperation with the Egyptian security services that might be needed to catch the criminals. “Any fault in Egypt’s security is a problem for Palestinian security,” the statement said.

Early on Thursday, seven members of the Egyptian security forces were kidnapped by unknown assailants in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, the Egyptian Al-Ahram newspaper reported.

Egypt’s state news agency MENA said that the seven included one member of the armed forces, four port security officers and two state security officers. They were stopped at a checkpoint and when it was realised that they were security officers, they were abducted.

It has been reported that Egyptian president, Mohammed Morsi, and the Egyptian Defence Minister, Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi, are to meet this evening to discuss the issue.