Israel condemns ‘terrible and despicable’ Sinai mosque massacre

Israel on Saturday condemned the “terrible and despicable terror attack” on a mosque in northern Sinai that killed at least 305 people, including at least 27 children.

“Israel strenuously condemns the terrible and despicable terror attack carried out on the Mosque near al-Arish and send condolences in the name of all the citizens of Israel to President (Abdel-Fattah) el-Sissi, the Egyptian nation, and the families of the victims,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement issued at the end of the Sabbath.

“Israel send its wishes for a speedy recovery to the wounded,” the statement said. “The terror will be defeated faster if all nations work together against it.”

Also Saturday, President Reuven Rivlin condemed the attack as “pure evil.”

“Yesterday more than 300 people were murdered; men women and children in an attack on a mosque in northern Sinai,” Rivlin said in a tweet. “Attacking people at the time of prayer, a time of intimacy and full of grace, is pure evil.”

“Our hearts, thoughts and prayers are with the families and the people of Egypt,” Rivlin said.

Some 30 armed terrorists wearing camouflage and carrying Islamic State black flags carried out the deadly massacre at the mosque in northern Sinai on Friday, Egyptian officials said Saturday as the death toll rose to 305, including 27 children.

IS, which is conducting a deadly insurgency in the Sinai, has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but it is the main suspect as the mosque is associated with followers of the mystical Sufi branch of Sunni Islam whom it has branded heretics.

A statement by Egypt’s chief prosecutor, Nabil Sadeq, said the attack Friday left another 128 people wounded.

It said the attackers, estimated at between 25 and 30, arrived at the mosque close to the small town of Bir al-Abd in five all-terrain vehicles and positioned themselves at the main door and the facility’s 12 windows before opening fire.

The statement from Netanyahu’s office came after a series of Israeli ministers had issued condemnations on Friday.

On Twitter, Transportation and Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) offered “condolences to the families of the dozens of people murdered in the terror attack on a mosque in Sinai” and said the Jewish state “stands shoulder to shoulder with Egypt and other countries in region and the international arena in the war against radical Islamic terror.”

My condolences to the families of the dozens of people murdered in the terror attack on a mosque in the Sinai. Israel stands shoulder to shoulder with Egypt and other countries in region and the international arena in the war against radical Islamic terror.

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) November 24, 2017

In a Hebrew tweet, Katz also said “Radical Islam is striking indiscriminately and murdering Muslims as well. It’s time to form a regional front against Iran’s Shiite terrorism and Islamic State’s Sunni terror.”

Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) offered condolences and said: “The murderous terror attack is testimony to the fact that a new world order is being created around us, in which the distinction is between terror supporters like Iran and [IS] and supporters of humanity.

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“This is a time for international unity in the war on terror wherever it presents itself: Russia, Europe, the US, Israel and the Arab world — we have all been hurt by terror and must unite in our battle against it. If the enlightened world unites, we will prevail and win.”

Also Friday, the Egyptian flag lit up the facade of the Tel Aviv municipality building.

The building has been illuminated in the colors of various flags following other international terror attacks, but the gesture has only been made towards an Arab country (also Egypt) once before: in May, when 29 Christian Copts were killed in a deadly shooting attack near Cairo.