Sinai Tribes: Landmine Explosion Kills 2 Tribesmen in Al-Ajra Area

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Sinai Tribes: Landmine Explosion Kills 2 Tribesmen in Al-Ajra Area

The Sinai Tribes Union, an amalgamation of tribes cooperating with Egyptian security authorities in northern Sinai, announced that two Tarabin tribesmen were killed in clashes with ISIS militants on Friday.

According to a tribesman, speaking under the condition of anonymity, the two were killed by a landmine explosion in the Al-Ajra area, located to the far south of the central Rafah and Sheikh Zuwayed areas.

ISIS had planted landmines in the area before retreating against the push of security forces.

The Sinai Tribes Union identified the two slain tribesmen as Awda Salim Abu Ankeez and Eid Mosleh Abu Masooh. They were combing Al-Ajra at the time of the explosion.

After clashes between security forces backed by Tarabin tribesmen against ISIS, the latter had abandoned its positions south of Rafah and left behind machine guns’ ammunition, the Union reported.

According to the Union, an ISIS key hideout was destroyed in the village of Naje’ Shabanah south of Rafah. During those clashes, many ISIS militants were killed.

Last week, in northern Sinai, four civilians were killed and 13 injured in an attack carried out by masked gunmen in the village of Qabr Amir.

Qabr Amir is one of the many northern Sinai areas that have witnessed fierce confrontations between security officers and ISIS militants since February 2018, when a region-wide security campaign was launched to purge the area of extremists.

Al-Sawarkah tribesman Moussa al-Maniei said that terrorist elements in Al-Ajra, al-Moqataa, and al-lafitat areas are incurring heavy losses due to the intensive security campaign.



Egypt Hosts Hamas in New Gaza Ceasefire Push, Looting Halts Aid

Egyptian workers are seen in front of the new headquarters of Egypt's parliament in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
Egyptian workers are seen in front of the new headquarters of Egypt's parliament in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
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Egypt Hosts Hamas in New Gaza Ceasefire Push, Looting Halts Aid

Egyptian workers are seen in front of the new headquarters of Egypt's parliament in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
Egyptian workers are seen in front of the new headquarters of Egypt's parliament in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo

Hamas leaders held talks with Egyptian security officials on Sunday in a fresh push for a ceasefire in the Gaza war, two Hamas sources said, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene his security cabinet on the matter, two Israeli officials said.

The Hamas visit to Cairo was the first since the United States announced on Wednesday it would revive efforts in collaboration with Qatar, Egypt and Türkiye to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza, that would include a hostage deal.

White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said he thought the chances of a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza were now more likely.

"(Hamas) are isolated. Hezbollah is no longer fighting with them, and their backers in Iran and elsewhere are preoccupied with other conflicts," he told CNN on Sunday, Reuters reported.

"So I think we may have a chance to make progress, but I'm not going to predict exactly when it will happen ... we've come so close so many times and not gotten across the finish line."

Palestinians say Israel's operations on the northern edge of the enclave are part of a plan to clear people out through forced evacuations and bombardments to create a buffer zone. The Israeli military strongly denies this and says it is fighting against Hamas.

The military says it has killed hundreds of Hamas militants in that part of Gaza as it fights to stop the faction regrouping. It has also lost around 30 soldiers there in combat with Hamas fighters over the past two months, a relatively high death toll.