Report: ISIL used weapons seized from Hamas in deadly attack on Egyptian forces

Special to WorldTribune.com

Weapons seized from Hamas were used by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant’s (ISIL’s) Sinai affiliate to carry out a devastating attack on Egyptian security forces, according to a report on Dec. 7.

Sources told Yediot Aharonot that Sinai Province, ISIL’s affiliate in Egypt, seized the weapons from a Hamas convoy. The jihadists had told Hamas the arms were destroyed, but then used them to attack Egyptian forces, the sources said.

Egyptian soldiers inspect a Rafah smuggling tunnel. /AFP
Egyptian soldiers inspect a Rafah smuggling tunnel. /AFP

Israel had announced in July that it had intelligence on Hamas supplying ISIL with the weapons it used in an attack on Egyptian soldiers that left over 70 dead.

Hamas is said to be continuing its aid to ISIL through cross-border tunnels that Egypt’s army has not yet destroyed, providing Sinai Province with advanced weapons such as Cornet anti-tank missiles which the jihadists have used in Sinai against Egypt.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority news agency Ma’an reported on Dec. 8 that 14 Gazans are “missing” following the flooding of a Rafah smuggling tunnel with seawater by the Egyptian military.

The report said seven Gazans were rescued but teams were unable to locate 14 others.

Ma’an also used the report to hint that Israel was to blame for the incident, saying that the smuggling tunnels under the Egyptian border “have served as a lifeline to the outside world for [Gaza] since Israel imposed a crippling siege on the coastal enclave in 2007.”

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