Report: ISIS-linked terrorists in Sinai threaten to strike Eilat port

Islamist group formerly known as Ansar Bait al-Maqdis makes call for attack on southern Israeli city "in the coming days," according to Egyptian media.

By YASSER OKBI/ MAARIV HASHAVUA
ISIS militant. (photo credit: REUTERS)
ISIS militant.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Terrorists in Sinai linked to Islamic State threatened Thursday to target Eilat Port “in the coming days.”
According to Egyptian media reports, the Islamist group Sinai Province, formerly known as Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, “threatened to strike the Eilat Port, following coordination with Islamic State’s wing in the Gaza Strip.”
“ISIS [Islamic State] will begin operations against Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip,” the Egyptian reports added.
Tensions between Hamas and Islamic State have mounted amid waves of arrests of Salafi jihadists in Gaza linked to Islamic State.
Abu Othman al-Mosley, one of the leaders of the northern Sinai group, took to the Sinai Province Facebook page, calling for its members to “enlist new members from jihadist factions and the Muslim Brotherhood organization in other provinces of Egypt.”
In addition, he called for new recruits to come to the Sinai region in order to operate against Egyptian security forces.
In addition, the call urged the Islamic State-aligned terrorists in Sinai to “make their way to the Gaza Strip to fight against Hamas’s military branch, Izzadin Kassam, and take over control of the Strip.”
Sinai Province changed its name from Ansar Bait al-Maqdis after pledging allegiance to Islamic State.
Egypt is facing a Sinaibased insurgency that has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the army toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Reuters and Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.