Mossad agents have allegedly carried out an assassination within Egyptian territory, according to Ma’an News Agency.
The independent news agency cited unnamed officials claiming that four Israeli intelligence agents crossed 15 kilometres into Sinai to kill jihadists responsible for an attack against Israeli tourists.
Sinai activist Ahmed Abo Dra’a claimed that a man named Ibrahim Oweida was killed through a collaboration between Mossad and local Bedouins. He further claimed that following the assassination, jihadists identified three informants involved with the operation. “One was decapitated, one escaped with his family and the third was handed over to the family of the assassinated,” he said. “They even released a statement about it.”
Abo Dra’a’s account matches a statement supposedly released by Ansar Bait Al Maqdis Jihadist group (Arabic for Jerusalem Supporters) which said four Mossad agents assassinated one of its members, Oweida, who had carried out operations against Israel, according to independent newspaper Al-Masreyoon. The statement reportedly added that two “spies” were “arrested”, while another managed to escape.
A researcher at Al Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, Mohamed Goma’a, said Mossad agents entering Sinai is “nothing new. It is nothing substantial. I wonder why this news is considered indicative of anything new,” he said.
“Sinai has become an operation field… it has become a big market for smuggling weapons to the Gaza Strip. Do we really then expect Israel to remain silent over this?” He did not justify what Israel is doing, but Goma’a said it is the reality on the ground. “Sinai is not a normal region. We would be naive not to believe that Israeli agents don’t [carry out operations there].”
There is a necessity for Egyptian officials to change their policy when dealing with Sinai he said. “Egypt has to move. We can’t just stand still.”
The issue with Sinai goes beyond a security matter, according to Goma’a. “The policy used with Sinai Bedouins was wrong. We have to turn over a new leaf with the people of Sinai and include them.”
