CAIRO: The Israeli Counter-Terrorism Bureau issued a warning Tuesday advising its citizens to avoid traveling to Sinai because they claim terror cells in the area are planning to abduct Israeli tourists.
The bureau updated its travel advisory on Tuesday and additionally requested that Israeli tourists already present in Sinai leave immediately.
In a statement issued by the bureau they warned, “Terror elements have been looking for some time now to kidnap Israelis in Sinai and may execute an abduction attack very soon.
“The bureau has been aware of a substantial risk to the safety of Israeli travelers all throughout Egypt for quite some time. The threat level is very concrete, the statement added.
Up to press time there was no official response from the Egyptian government about the Israeli warning.
Sinai is a popular destination for Israel tourists due its proximity and relative cheapness in price. During the high season for Israeli travelers, their number reaches up to 20,000 in the peninsula.
The travel advisory has been unchanged since last April, when Egyptian authorities arrested four men on suspicion of carrying out attacks in Sinai. Since then Egypt has increased security in the tourist hotspot and doubled the number of checkpoints.
Al-Dostour columnist and espionage novelist and researcher Nabil Farouk told Daily News Egypt that such an explicit warning that might cause a panic would not be released unless the Israelis were quite sure of their intelligence, gathered either from a reliable source or through their own infiltration of a suspect group.
He added that there is a fair amount of cooperation between Israeli and Egyptian intelligence services concerning such matters and that the Egyptians would be well aware of the situation.
Egypt has not yet released an official response to the alert.
“We are always slow in our public reactions, Farouk said, “this could mean either that we are investigating the Israeli claims or intend to denounce it.
The Israeli bureau claims it has intelligence to suggest that abduction attempts of Israeli tourists are imminent.
“Terrorist groups, who have been preparing to abduct Israelis in Sinai, are ready to carry out their plans with immediate effect. For some time the safety of Israelis visiting or residing in Sinai has been subjected to a substantial threat, the statement read.
It is not believed that the warning will affect Israeli travel plans to a great extent, as these warnings are generally not heeded by a large part of the Israeli public. Nor is it believed that those in Sinai will up and go right away.
Currently there are only a few hundred Israelis in Sinai, mainly younger people but also some older Israelis who go to gamble at a hotel in Taba, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The report stated that the Egyptian authorities were coordinating with their Israeli counterparts on the threat which they deemed extremely reliable. “We do what we need to do with the Egyptians, Israeli officials told the newspaper.
The Ministry of Interior could not be reached for comment on this issue.
