BICOM

The massacre of 25 Egyptian policemen by armed extremists in the Sinai, close to the Israeli border yesterday, has added fuel to Israeli concerns about the impact of political stability in Egypt on Israel’s own immediate security. The off-duty police officers were travelling in two minibuses when they were ambushed in northern Sinai. It has been reported that the policemen were ordered to leave the buses before each being shot in the back of the head. In a further incident, another police officer was killed in the north Sinai town of el-Arish. Following the attacks, the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza was closed and security increased at checkpoints throughout the Sinai. This attack followed the death of 37 Muslim Brotherhood prisoners killed whilst in police custody yesterday, in what the US State Department described as suspicious circumstances. The deaths allegedly happened during an attempted prison break, Egyptian police stated the prisoners died from suffocation after police used teargas to stop a mass escape.

Israel is increasing steps to deal with the threat emanating from the Sinai. Haaretz reports today that Shin Bet (Israel’s internal security service) has formed a new unit with a specific mandate to deal with jihadi groups operating in the peninsula. According to senior Shin Bet officials quoted by Haaretz, there are up to 15 Salafi groups, some of them affiliated to Al-Qaida, operating in the Sinai.

The international community continues to monitor and react to the situation. Tomorrow, EU foreign ministers will meet to decide whether to scale back aid to Egypt in response to the government’s crackdown on protesters. Germany has already stated that it will halt weapon sales to the country.

While Israel has not officially made any comment on the unrest in Egypt, Israeli officials are reportedly voicing concerns in Europe and the US that scaling back aid to the Egyptian military authorities may lead to further chaos and security deterioration in the wider region.