BICOM

Two Egyptian policemen were killed yesterday night in the border area between Israel and Egypt, close to the Gaza Strip. According to Egyptian and Israeli media reports Beduin smugglers killed the two police officers as they patrolled the border fence. IDF troops in the area monitored the incident but did not intervene, in accordance with accepted practice. Israeli forces later stopped an additional attempt to infiltrate the border.

Since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak the security situation in the Sinai has deteriorated significantly. In August the Egyptian military launched Operation Eagle, a campaign to confront insurgents and criminal gangs operating in the Sinai, with the objective of restoring law and order in light of the lawlessness that had developed during the Egyptian revolution. Nevertheless, despite extra Egyptian troop deployments, in mid August terrorist from the Gaza Strip entered Israel from the Sinai and attacked cars and buses on an Israeli highway, killing eight. A pipeline that travels through the Sinai providing natural gas to both Israel and Jordan has also been blown up seven times over the past year.

Another negative consequence of the deterioration of the security situation in the Sinai has been the increased smuggling of advanced weapons to armed groups in the Gaza Strip. During the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi, reports surfaced of Libyan army equipment, including advanced shoulder launched anti-aircraft missiles, being smuggled into Gaza from the Sinai.

In response to deterring security situation in the Sinai, Israel has increased construction of a security fence along the border, which is now due to be completed by the end of 2012. The IDF at the beginning of the week also announced the establishment of a new intelligence-gathering battalion to be stationed along the Israeli-Egypt border.