Saturday 4 August 2012

Israelis should leave the Sinai Peninsula at once as al-Qaida member has been released in Gaza


Israelis in the Sinai Peninsula should leave the area immediately and return to Israel, a statement from the Israeli prime minister's office said.
"From information at our disposal, it arises that terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip and additional elements are actively planning to perpetrate terrorist attacks, especially abductions, against Israeli tourists in Sinai in the immediate term," the statement said.
"The NSCCTB (National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau) reiterates its call to all Israelis in Sinai to leave the area immediately and return home."
According to Israeli media, in the past two days, 2,000 people have traveled to Sinai through the Taba border crossing outside Eilat.
On Friday, a source from a Jihadist Salafi group said that Gaza's ruling Hamas has freed a militant group's leader who is believed to have ties to al-Qaida and had been detained for 17 months.
Hamas, which forcibly took over the coastal territory in 2007 from Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas, had accused Saedni of attempting to disrupt public order in the Gaza Strip and arrested him on March 4, 2011.
Hisham Al-Saedni, also known as Abu Al-Waleed Al-Maqdissi, was freed late on Thursday, the source said. Hamas declined immediate comment.
Al-Saedni is one of the founders of the Tawhid and Jihad group affiliated with al-Qaida in Gaza Strip, Reuters news reported.
Last year, members identifying themselves with Tawhid and Jihad kidnapped and killed Vittorio Arrigoni, a 36-year-old Italian activist and blogger in the Gaza Strip. It threatened to execute him unless Hamas released Al-Saedni.
In related news, media reported last week that Israeli forces came under fire on the Egypt-Israel border.
Israel's Ynet news site said no injuries of soldiers were reported.
It said an Israeli force on patrol near the Mount Carmit outpost noticed a group of "infiltrators" who crossed the border from the Sinai, heard shots from the Egyptian side, and fired back.

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