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Sisi Instructs Army to Protect Companies Operating In Sinai

An Egyptian military vehicle is seen on the highway in northern Sinai, Egypt, May 25, 2015. - REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih/File Photo
An Egyptian military vehicle is seen on the highway in northern Sinai, Egypt, May 25, 2015. - REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih/File Photo
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Sisi Instructs Army to Protect Companies Operating In Sinai

An Egyptian military vehicle is seen on the highway in northern Sinai, Egypt, May 25, 2015. - REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih/File Photo
An Egyptian military vehicle is seen on the highway in northern Sinai, Egypt, May 25, 2015. - REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih/File Photo

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered the military on Tuesday to protect companies operating in Sinai, warning “evil groups” against obstructing development projects in the area.

Attending the inauguration of a number of development projects in the Peninsula via videoconference, Sisi said: “Evil groups (active in Sinai) should clearly understand that the State is strongly securing those projects.”

In the past years, the Egyptian military and police in north and central Sinai governorate have battled armed groups, including 'Wilayat Sinai,” a local ISIS affiliate.

Those groups have escalated their attacks particularly after President Mohamed Morsi was removed from office in 2013.

However, in February 2018, the Egyptian military launched a major campaign against the militants and defeated them.

On Tuesday, Sisi saw the launch of the second stage of building the Ismailiya-Awja highway and the opening of the Ahmad Hamdi Tunnel, a 1640-meter long car tunnel under the Suez Canal at Shallufa.

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Members of UK Jewish Group Say Can't 'Turn Blind Eye' to Gaza War

Children gather near a destroyed makeshift shelter following an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia - AFP
Children gather near a destroyed makeshift shelter following an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia - AFP
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Members of UK Jewish Group Say Can't 'Turn Blind Eye' to Gaza War

Children gather near a destroyed makeshift shelter following an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia - AFP
Children gather near a destroyed makeshift shelter following an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia - AFP

Members of the largest organization representing British Jews have said they can no longer "turn a blind eye" to the war in Gaza, adding "Israel's soul is being ripped out".

In a major break with the Board of Deputies of British Jews' policy of supporting the Israeli leadership, 36 of its members criticized the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Gaza in an open letter published in the Financial Times.

"The inclination to avert our eyes is strong, as what is happening is unbearable, but our Jewish values compel us to stand up and to speak out," said the letter, signed by around one in eight members of the Board of Deputies, AFP reported.

"We cannot turn a blind eye or remain silent" about the loss of life since a two-month truce collapsed on March 18, as negotiations over the return of Israeli hostages broke down, the letter added.

Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

"Israel's soul is being ripped out and we, members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, fear for the future of the Israel we love and have such close ties to," added the letter.

The signatories accused the "most extremist of Israeli governments" of "openly encouraging violence against Palestinians in the West Bank."

"We stand against the war. We acknowledge and mourn the loss of Palestinian life," they added.

A spokesperson for the Board of Deputies told the Guardian that other members would "no doubt put more emphasis on the fundamental responsibility of Hamas for this ghastly situation."

At least 1,691 Palestinians have been killed since the resumption of the Israeli offensive, bringing the death toll in Gaza since the start of the war to 51,065, according to Gaza's Hamas-controlled health ministry.