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Egypt: Capturing Three Accused of ‘Terrorism’ in North Sinai

Three accused of terrorism who were captured by the Egyptian Army Forces in Sinai, Saturday. Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic.
Three accused of terrorism who were captured by the Egyptian Army Forces in Sinai, Saturday. Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic.
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Egypt: Capturing Three Accused of ‘Terrorism’ in North Sinai

Three accused of terrorism who were captured by the Egyptian Army Forces in Sinai, Saturday. Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic.
Three accused of terrorism who were captured by the Egyptian Army Forces in Sinai, Saturday. Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic.

Army forces arrested three Takfiris and a four-wheeled car hidden in a cave in the middle of the Sinai desert, as well as explosive materials used to make improvised explosive device (IED), Armed Forces spokesperson Tamer al-Refaei said on Saturday.

Refaei added that the forces seized four motorcycles, belonging to the members, in addition to a truck loaded with spare motorcycle parts.

In a related matter, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi held on Saturday a meeting with Defense Minister Gen. Sedki Sobhy, Interior Minister Magdy Abdel Ghaffar, Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate Major General Khaled Fawzy, and Secretary-General of the Defense Ministry Muhammad Farid Hegazy.

Presidency Spokesman Alaa Youssef said that Sisi was informed of the measures to be taken to secure Egypt’s land and maritime borders, as well as retain full control over crossing points, addressing the relevant authorities’ high level of preparation to confront terrorism.

Major General Fouad Allam stated to Asharq Al-Awsat that capturing those accused of supporting terrorism in Sinai indicates wide-success and reassurance since this proves that the armed forces are in control of crossing ports and roads.

Allam added that the detained represent a treasure of information to the security bodies – this will facilitate capturing terrorist groups in Sinai and foiling potential operations in the future.

Maj. Gen. Mohammed Noureddine, the former assistant to the minister of interior, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the last two operations in east and west Egypt show that the Egyptian security bodies are in an ongoing war that needs support from the interior.

Egyptian police and army are being victims of recurring attacks, mainly in Sinai, since the ousting of Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

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With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
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With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)

After weeks of Israeli bombardment left them with nowhere else to go, hundreds of Palestinians have ended up in a former Gaza prison built to hold murderers and thieves.

Yasmeen al-Dardasi said she and her family passed wounded people they were unable to help as they evacuated from a district in the southern city of Khan Younis towards its Central Correction and Rehabilitation Facility.

They spent a day under a tree before moving on to the former prison, where they now live in a prayer room. It offers protection from the blistering sun, but not much else.

Dardasi's husband has a damaged kidney and just one lung, but no mattress or blanket.

"We are not settled here either," said Dardasi, who like many Palestinians fears she will be uprooted once again.

Israel has said it goes out of its way to protect civilians in its war with the Palestinian group Hamas, which runs Gaza and led the attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that sparked the latest conflict.

Palestinians, many of whom have been displaced several times, say nowhere is free of Israeli bombardment, which has reduced much of Gaza to rubble.

An Israeli air strike killed at least 90 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in the Al-Mawasi area on July 13, the territory's health ministry said, in an attack that Israel said targeted Hamas' elusive military chief Mohammed Deif.

On Thursday, Gaza's health ministry said Israeli military strikes on areas in eastern Khan Younis had killed 14 people.

Entire neighborhoods have been flattened in one of the most densely populated places in the world, where poverty and unemployment have long been widespread.

According to the United Nations, nine in ten people across Gaza are now internally displaced.

Israeli soldiers told Saria Abu Mustafa and her family that they should flee for safety as tanks were on their way, she said. The family had no time to change so they left in their prayer clothes.

After sleeping outside on sandy ground, they too found refuge in the prison, among piles of rubble and gaping holes in buildings from the battles which were fought there. Inmates had been released long before Israel attacked.

"We didn't take anything with us. We came here on foot, with children walking with us," she said, adding that many of the women had five or six children with them and that water was hard to find.

She held her niece, who was born during the conflict, which has killed her father and brothers.

When Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7 they killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the air and ground offensive Israel launched in response, Palestinian health officials say.

Hana Al-Sayed Abu Mustafa arrived at the prison after being displaced six times.

If Egyptian, US and Qatari mediators fail to secure a ceasefire they have long said is close, she and other Palestinians may be on the move once again. "Where should we go? All the places that we go to are dangerous," she said.