‘IDF may preemptively strike IS in Sinai’

A senior IDF officer says Israel could attack IS-affiliated militants in neighboring Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, if they were poised to attack Israeli soldiers or civilians.

The “threat of terror from Sinai” has grown in recent years, Brigadier General Royi Elcabets said at a ceremony marking the end of his two years as commander of the Edom division that controls the border with the Sinai.

Elcabets says IS’s Egypt affiliate could attempt to attack Israel.

“It is our duty to preempt it and strike at it, if and when this happens,” he said in remarks relayed by the military.

Jihadist militants have killed hundreds of Egyptian security forces in the Sinai since the overthrow of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in July 2013.

Israel and Egypt have been closely following developments and are said to be cooperating to counter the terror threat.

— AFP contributed