Report: Egypt approved Israel’s drone attacks in Sinai

Israel has conducted several drone attacks in the Sinai Peninsula in recent years with Egypt’s approval, a former senior Israeli official told Bloomberg on condition of anonymity.

Bloomberg quoted the Israeli military’s deputy chief of staff Major-General Yair Golan as saying: “The level of cooperation is something we’ve never experienced before.”

“It’s not about love; it’s not about common values. I wouldn’t describe it as the relationship we have with the United States of America, but I think it’s a good starting point,” Golan added.

Bloomberg said Egypt is seeking to play a more influential role in the region in order to advance its economy, adding that Cairo’s potential rewards would mitigate any increased risk of attack by militants because of its closer ties to Israel.

The agency quoted Mohamed Kamal, a former lawmaker and a political science professor at Cairo University, as saying: “There is definitely a high level of cooperation that could be unprecedented, especially in the field of combating terrorism. Egypt will handle this issue in a rational way, based on national interest.”

In 2013, AFP reported sources in the Egyptian army as saying that an Israeli aircraft had bombed a site in northern Sinai, killing five suspected terrorists and destroying a rocket launcher.