The Israeli counter-terrorism authority released on Tuesday evening a travel warning to the Sinai Peninsula on the remembrance of the 25 January Revolution. The warning message was issued by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, the Israeli prime minister’s official spokesperson Ofir Gendelman said on his Facebook page.
The travel warning called on the Israeli public to avoid visiting Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, and urged Israelis currently there to leave immediately. It moreover raised the terror risk in the peninsula from level 2 (high concrete threat) to level 1 (extreme concrete threat).
The bureau said annual protests marking the anniversary of the 2011 revolution that toppled former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak have witnessed the execution of several terrorist attacks, adding that this day may witness the occurrence of terrorist attacks.
Since 2013, state security forces represented in both the army and police have been engaged in violent clashes with “Sinai Province,” known previously as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis. In 2014, the group declared its affiliation to Islamic State (IS) and has launched deadly attacks on army and police checkpoints.
Over the course of the last two years, the Egyptian armed forces launched counterattacks against militant stationing points across the Sinai Peninsula where the group is based, particularly in the cities of Sheikh Zuweid, Rafah, and Al-Arish.
