Israeli authorities warned citizens on Saturday to leave Egypt's Sinai peninsula immediately because of a "critical and immediate threat" of a terrorist attack.
"All Iraelis in the Sinai are called upon to leave the region and return to Israel," said a statement from the anti-terrorist bureau.
"Based on information in our possession, terrorist organisations in the Gaza Strip are continuing to work energetically to carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli targets on Sinai's beaches in the immediate term," it said.
Resorts dotted along the Red Sea in the Sinai are a popular holiday destination for Israelis seeking a relatively cheap break in the sun.
But since the start of the uprising in Egypt that toppled president Hosni Mubarak last year, security in the peninsula has deteriorated significantly, with Egypt sending troops into the area to try to bring it back under control.
Last August, gunmen infiltrated southern Israel from Sinai and launched a coordinated series of ambushes on vehicles on a border road north of the Red Sea resort of Eilat. Eight Israelis were killed and more than 25 wounded.
Israel's military intelligence chief, Aviv Koshavi, recently said the Jewish state had foiled more than 10 attempted attacks in the past two months.
The border area is also a paradise for Bedouin smugglers, with the Israeli authorities often seizing drugs, cigarettes and telecommunications equipment as well as weapons and explosives heading for the Gaza Strip.
Israel is building a giant steel security barrier along the 240 kilometre (150 mile) frontier, which is due to be completed by the end of this year.
South Sinai governor dismisses Israeli 'rumours' of terrorists attacks
The South Sinai governor dismisses alarms that Israeli tourists in Sinai are being threatened, saying it's just another case of Israel using scare tactics when tourism starts to boom in Egypt
Ahram Online, Saturday 21 Apr 2012
South Sinai Governor Khaled Fouda refuted on Saturday Israeli claims that there were terrorist threats against the Sinai.
Fouda claimed that Israel often spreads such rumours whenever Egypt's tourism industry witnesses revitalization.
According to Fouda, the increase in the occupancy rate in Sharm El-Sheikh hotels to 65 percent is the main trigger behind Israel's "irresponsible statement." He added that so far such rumours have failed to impact tourism in South Sinai.
Earlier on Saturday, Israeli authorities warned citizens to leave Egypt's Sinai peninsula immediately because of a "critical and immediate threat" of a terrorist attack.
The Israeli authorities claimed a terrorist organisation in the Gaza Strip was planning to carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli targets on Sinai's beaches.
Resorts along the Red Sea in the Sinai are a popular holiday destination for Israelis.
Sinai Jihadi group says responsible for Israel attack in June
A Sinai-based Islamic Jihadi group announces in a video that it carried out a cross-border attack last month killing one Israeli at a border barrier construction site
Reuters , Saturday 28 Jul 2012
An Islamic Jihadi group based in Egypt's Sinai has posted a video showing it carried out a cross-border attack in June, killing one Israeli at a border barrier construction site and raising doubts over Egypt's security control over the desert peninsula.
An online video posted on Friday featured members of a new group named "Magles Shoura al-Mujahddin" wearing military outfits and choosing as their target an Israeli security patrol and a border town.
The men who according to the video carried out the attack, identified as Egyptian Abu Salah and a Saudi, Abu Hozaifa, said they sought revenge for "Muslims' blood" and dedicated the attack to Ayman al-Zawahri, Al Qaeda's leader.
"We will head shortly to execute a double suicide operation targeting the Jewish enemy forces on the Egyptian borders," Abu Salah said, reading out from a piece of paper before the attack with a black flag in the background covered with religious slogans.
Israeli officials said soldiers killed both attackers.
Another Jihadi group named "Ansar Bayt al-Maqdes" claimed in an online video last week its responsibility for gas pipeline blasts.
Egyptian security sources said they were investigating information in the videos and were aware of the existence of some Jihadi elements but had no information on these two groups.
"These groups might be very small Jihadi cells in Sinai," a security source told Reuters.
In the video, Jihadis were seen monitoring the border spotting Egyptian and Israeli army sites before identifying a weakness point along the border and choosing two Israeli Jeeps and a border town on the Israeli side as their targets.
The attackers were then instructed on the plan using a model of the area and were trained on making bombs and using live ammunition in a desert.
Egyptian security officials said it was unclear where the training took place.
Experts say that militant groups in Sinai aren't directly affiliated to Al Qaeda but are seeking to be so.
The open desert border between Israel and Egypt was relatively quiet for three decades after the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1979. But Israel says that since the fall of Mubarak, Cairo has lost its grip on the Sinai.
UPDATE 3: 15 Egyptian soldiers killed at the Israel border
President Mohamed Morsi requests emergency meeting with SCAF to discuss border attack; Israeli troops 'combing' border area for 'terrorists,' says Netanyahu spokesperson
Ahram Online, Sunday 5 Aug 2012
President Mohamed Morsi has called for an urgent meeting with Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to discuss the recent explosion that left a number of Egyptian soldiers dead and injured near Egypt's border with the besieged Gaza Strip.
According to media reports on Sunday evening, the attack involved a military vehicle, reportedly hijacked earlier, which exploded around 7pm.
According to Egypt's health ministry, at least 15 Egyptian soldiers were killed and seven injured in the explosion that went off at a military zone on Sunday, near the city of Rafah, according to Ahram Online Arabic portal.
Investigations by authorities into the attack have been immediately opened as no group has claimed responsibility yet.
However, the Egyptian state TV claimed that elements of Islamic extremist groups situated in the peninsula of Sinai had carried out the attack by Iftar (breakfast in Ramadan), but provided no details.
An anonymous Egyptian security official was quoted by Egypt's state-run news agency as saying that Islamist elements who infiltrated Egypt from the Gaza Strip through tunnels are behind the attacks, along with other Islamists situated in the areas of El-Halal Mountain and El-Mahdia in eastern Sinai.
Meanwhile, Ofir Gendelman, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, declared on Twitter that the Israeli Army had reported that no Israelis had been killed in the attack.
Gendelman also said that Israeli troops had been "combing" the nearby Kerem Abu Salam border area looking for "terrorists" whom he said had entered the self-proclaimed Jewish state from Egypt.
The Netanyahu spokesperson added that, apart from a military vehicle that had exploded and killed several Egyptian soldiers, a second vehicle, which he claimed had been "hijacked," had been destroyed by the Israeli air force.
"One of the military vehicles exploded at the Kerem Shalom [Kerem Abu Salam] crossing. The second vehicle was targeted by the IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] from the air," he tweeted in English.
He added in Arabic: "Apparently the 'terrorists' who penetrated the borders with two vehicles had planned for a very big terrorist operation on our territory. This attempt has been aborted."
Medieval citadel on Sinai island to open to tourists
The defensive citadel built by medieval ruler Saladin on Pharaoh Island, close to Taba, has recently been restored
Nevine El-Aref , Friday 28 Sep 2012
On Saturday, the restored Saladin Citadel on Pharaoh Island off the coast of the Sinai peninsula is to be officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Hisham Qandil, Minister of State for Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim, Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou and top governmental officials, adding a new tourist attraction to costal Red Sea resort Taba.
Over the last six years, the citadel and the whole island were closed to tourists for a restoration project that cost LE20 million.
Mohamed El-Sheikha, head of the projects section at the antiquities ministry told Ahram Online that in order to decrease the amount of sea water flooding the citadel, particularly in winter, a number of cement wave breakers had been erected in the sea around the citadel. Dilapidated structures were restored and external walls were strengthened.
Signboards with full historical details were also erected to facilitate visits, as were wooden sun shades, and a new lighting system was installed to make the citadel accessible at night.
Ibrahim told Ahram Online that cultural activities and dancing performances are also planned to take place on the island with the citadel in the backdrop, to increase the attractions available for visitors.
Archaeologist Abdel Rehim Rihan said that Saladin's citadel is one of the greatest Islamic monuments in Sinai. It was built in 1171 AD by Saladin, then sultan of Egypt, to stand against the Crusaders and to protect the pilgrimage route from Egypt through Sinai.
According to Rihan, the citadel played an important role in protecting the Sinai Peninsula from invasion during the crusading period.
It was capable of a withstanding a long siege if necessary, shown by water tanks built into the rock.
Besides the defensive structures such as a furnace for producing weapons and soldiers' barracks, a bakery, mill and bathroom were also discovered in the citadel.
Pharaoh Island offers striking views of the Red Sea and is also close to untouched coral reefs.
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Israel urges tourists to avoid Sinai, African states
Weeks ahead of Jewish Passover holidays, Israel urges its citizens to avoid traveling to Egypt's Sinai for security reasons
AFP , Wednesday 6 Mar 2013
Israel on Wednesday urged its citizens to avoid travel to Egypt's Sinai resorts and a list of African states during the Passover holidays at the end of March for fear of attacks, public radio reported.
It warned of "the dangers of attacks" in the Sinai―scene of anti-Israeli attacks both before and since Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's 2011 ouster―and in Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia.
Indian Kashmir and southern Thailand were also on the list of destinations for Israeli holidaymakers to avoid.
