Second ISIS Attack on Israel in Two Weeks

February 22, 2017

by: Ilse Posselt

Wednesday, 22 February 2017 | Less than two weeks ago, the screech of air raid sirens warned residents in Israel’s southern port city of Eilat that four rockets had been fired from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. The next day, an affiliate of the Islamic State or ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack—and vowed to launch more in the future.

On Monday morning, ISIS made good on their threat, launching a further two rockets from Sinai towards civilian populations in the Jewish state. The rockets exploded in an open field in Israel’s northwestern Negev area close to Gaza, causing no harm or damage. The projectiles did not trigger the incoming rocket alert system, as the calculated point of impact was well beyond a populated area.

Yesterday, Sinai Province, the ISIS offshoot operating in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Israeli media reports that Monday morning’s attack comes a day after the ISIS affiliate accused the Jewish state of killing five of its members in an airstrike.

The official media arm of Sinai Province, the Amaq news agency, claimed on Sunday that an Israeli drone conducted a strike on a car in which five ISIS members were traveling. The alleged strike took place near the Israel-Egypt border in the upper Sinai Peninsula on Saturday. According to the report, the Islamic State terrorists were part of a cell preparing to fire rockets at Israel.

In keeping with its policy of refraining to comment on allegations from nations pointing a finger at the Jewish state for activity outside its borders, the Israel Defense Force [IDF] neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in the supposed strike.

The situation on Israel’s border with Egypt has been particularly tense since the ISIS attack earlier this month. The Iron Dome anti-missile system managed to intercept three of the four rockets fired by Sinai Province. The fourth landed in an open area. Sinai Province released a statement at the time, vowing continuous war against “the infidels” and threatening “calamitous” attacks in the future.

Sinai Province stands in violent opposition to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and has launched a number of attacks against the Egyptian military in the area, The Israel Project reports. Moreover, both Jerusalem and Cairo have expressed growing concerns over increasing cooperation between the ISIS affiliate and Hamas, the terror organization ruling the Gaza Strip.

Posted on February 22, 2017

Source: (Bridges for Peace, 22 February 2017)

Photo Credit: Isranet