WATCH: Egyptian warplanes bomb targets near Gaza border
Video obtained by Reuters showed what the cameraman said to be an Egyptian warplane flying over Gaza.
By ARIEL BEN SOLOMONUpdated: JANUARY 1, 2016 02:12
Egyptian security forces killed 15 suspected Islamic State terrorists in an eight-hour raid in North Sinai on Thursday, Egyptian media reported.The raids targeted Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, a group that pledged allegiance to Islamic State, a security source told the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry al-Youm.Palestinian witnesses in the Gazan side of Rafah said that Egyptian warplanes hit targets on the Egyptian side of Rafah.Video obtained by Reuters showed what the cameraman said was an Egyptian warplane flying over Gaza, followed by the sound of an air strike and a cloud of black smoke rising from Rafah.Meanwhile, terrorists in Sinai shelled a home near a security checkpoint in Rafah, killing an entire family of five and wounding a neighbor, AP quoted Egyptian officials as saying.The Egyptian Army has demolished thousands of homes on the Egyptian side of Rafah during the past year to create a buffer zone with nearby Gaza, an effort by Egypt to end smuggling of arms via secret tunnels.Egypt decided in November 2014 to double the width of the security buffer zone after an outbreak of some of the worst anti-state violence since ousted president Mohamed Morsi was overthrown in 2013.Separately, Russia signed an agreement with Egypt to deliver 46 Ka-52 attack helicopters, the director- general of the JSC Russian Helicopters holding company, Alexander Mikheyev, said on Wednesday, Tass Russian News Agency reported.“A large agreement for delivery of 46 Ka-52 Alligator helicopters has been signed with Egypt through [the state weaponry trading company] Rosoboronexport,” he said.Jerusalem Post staff and Reuters contributed to this report.