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Egypt Is Winning Battle Against Islamic State in Sinai - For Now

(Times of Israel) Avi Issacharoff - Egyptian Rafah, bordering Gaza, was a city with thousands of houses and tens of thousands of residents. It has been wiped off the face of the earth as part of the Egyptian army's campaign to remove homes from the Gaza border area in order to prevent smuggling. Egypt has succeeded in establishing a 3 1/2 km.-wide perimeter free of homes and residents along the entire border between Egypt and Hamas-run Gaza. The Egyptians forcibly transferred tens of thousands of people as part of their war against the Islamic State in Sinai. Casualties among Egyptian troops and civilians have decreased drastically, as has the number of security-related incidents in Sinai per week. Reasons for the success include more personnel, advanced intelligence-gathering technologies, and close security cooperation with Israel. Another factor is that Islamic State, as a de-facto state that can provide assistance, has been destroyed. Moreover, an influx of foreign activists into Sinai, mainly from countries of the former Soviet Union, has led to changes in relations with the local Bedouin tribes. The strengthening of foreign elements led to particularly cruel acts against the local population. Islamic State fighters hunted down smugglers who brought cigarettes to Gaza through the tunnels. The Bedouin saw this as a threat to their livelihood and many turned against Islamic State and provided intelligence to the Egyptian army.
2018-07-27 00:00:00
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