Israeli sources say there is evidence that Egypt's north Sinai region is becoming a firing range for Gaza's rocket builders.
(INN) Israeli sources told Reuters on Friday there is evidence that Egypt's north Sinai region is becoming not only a rallying point for terrorists but a firing range for Gaza's rocket builders.
It was soon after the 2011 revolt in Egypt toppled President Hosni Mubarak that Israeli rocket radars began to spot unusual launches from the Gaza, the report noted.
While the rockets normally towards Israeli border towns, or north towards coastal cities, some are now aimed at the empty desert wastes of Sinai.
The purpose seemed clear, according to the sources: to test rockets made or smuggled in by Gaza terror groups who do not have space for a practice range.
“They have a Bedouin collaborator in Sinai who finds the crater and marks it by GPS,” an Israeli official told Reuters on condition of anonymity, describing a low-tech but effective method of tracking test-firings from Gaza.
A sheik from a Sinai village around 60 km from Gaza described how in June he heard several explosions and went to investigate. He found a spent rocket which had gouged a basketball-size hole in the ground.
“The remaining parts did not include any writings that could tell where the rocket came from,” the sheik was quoted by Reuters as having said.
The report added that while Gaza's Hamas government and its smaller Islamist factions deny conducting any military operations in Sinai, security officials from Egypt privately admit it has become a playground of bandits, smugglers and jihadis.
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