JERUSALEM (JTA) — Egypt was on high security alert after receiving information that Hamas terrorists were planning to infiltrate into the Sinai and launch rockets at Israel.
Reports received by Egyptian security services suggested that the rockets either had been smuggled into Egypt or would be set up there soon, the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency reported Sunday.
On Saturday, Egypt announced that it had declared a state of emergency following reports that Gaza Palestinians were attempting to steal into the country through smuggling tunnels on the border.
Five long-range rockets were fired from Sinai last month at Israel’s resort town of Eilat and at Aqaba in Jordan, where one person was killed. Earlier in the summer two Katyusha rockets were fired from Sinai at Eilat.
