October 3, 2012
Israeli intel: Independent jihadist network perpetrating Sinai attacks
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An armored vehicle patrols the border with Gaza Strip during a security sweep of Sinai in Rafah city on Sept. 12. Photo by REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih
Terror attacks in the Sinai emanated from an independent jihadist network there, Israeli intelligence reportedly believes.
Many members of the Sinai network are Egyptians who do not live in the Sinai, according to the Haaretz newspaper, which cited Israeli intelligence.
Two of the three terrorists involved in last month's cross-border attack that killed an Israeli soldier were well-off husbands and fathers who did not outwardly identify with religious extremism, Egyptian newspapers reported, according to Haaretz.
Other attacks on the Sinai border, including the killing of eight Israelis in August 2011 and the 14 attacks on a gas pipeline from Egypt to Israel, also are believed to have emanated from the same jihadist network and are not an extension of Gaza terrorism.
Haaretz reported that the network recruits from throughout the Arab world.
