Israel raises alert level on Egyptian border

The Israeli army has raised its alert level at the Israeli-Egyptian border following a wave of attacks in the Sinai Peninsula on Wednesday that claimed the lives of 17 Egyptian soldiers.

Israel’s Defence Ministry also made the move to close the Nitzana and Kerem Shalom crossings on the southern border on Wednesday, but re-opened Kerem Shalom on Thursday morning.

Israeli military analysts warned that Israeli interests could be the target of new attacks following the recent security developments in the Sinai Peninsula.

Israeli senior military analyst Ron Ben-Yishai wrote in Isreal’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper that: “something like this has happened in recent years when global jihad elements attacked Egyptian army sites and national forces in northern Sinai and seized armoured vehicles which they used to infiltrate the border and penetrate into Israeli territory.”

Ben-Yishai noted that members of the Islamic State militant group seized tanks and armoured vehicles belonging to the Egyptian army on Wednesday, which jihadists could use to drive towards the border crossings into Israel.

According to Ben-Yishai and other Israeli analysts, the Israeli army should raise the level of alert along the Sinai border in preparation for such a scenario, specifically in Kerem Shalom where the borders of Israel, Egypt and the Gaza Strip meet and which has been prone to attacks in the past, and to warn Israelis living near the border area to be cautious.