A Sinai-based jihadist group affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS) has issued a threat via facebook that it is targeting Israel’s southern resort town of Eilat, reported Israel Hayom.
The threat, issued Thursday, came from the Wilayat Sina (“Province of Sinai”) organization, previously known as Ansar Bait al-Maqdis (“Supporters of the Holy House”), which swore allegiance to ISIS last November. Active since 2011, Wilayat Sina stepped up its attacks following the removal of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi from power in 2013. Most of its attacks have targeted the Egyptian military in Sinai, but it has also fired rockets on Eilat and the nearby Jordanian town of Aqaba. The group has disrupted the transport of gas from Egypt to Israel and Jordan by repeated bombings of the Sinai pipeline.
On Thursday, the group issued a call to Egyptians to join the struggle and wrest Sinai from the hands of the Egyptian government. It also criticized Hamas in Gaza for “abandoning the fight against the Jews.” It warned that ISIS would launch attacks against Gaza because Hamas was too moderate.
These threats came just days after rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel. The Israeli Air Force quickly responded. Hamas claims the rockets were the result of internal tensions between rival groups.