Egyptian Soldiers Vying for Control of Sinai Peninsula

BBC: Egypt has destroyed over 140 homes in the city of Rafah.

Egyptian soldiers have invaded their own territory on the Sinai Peninsula and destroyed over 140 homes in the city of Rafah. This constituted the third stage in the government’s attempt to build a buffer zone. An area about a third of a mile wide was cleared on October 4, adding to the mile-wide and eight-mile-long territory razed during the first and second stages.Rafah is located in North Sinai and contains the only crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. For several years, Egypt has accused the radical Islamic organization Hamas of using tunnels between Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula to conduct terrorist activity within Egypt’s borders. In response, the country has tried to create a buffer zone between Gaza and Sinai. Thousands of Egyptian homes in Sinai have been razed since 2013 with little notice. The military’s stated goal is a cleared, 30 square-mile zone along the Gaza border. The governor of the Northern Sinai Province, Major General Abdel Fattah Harhoor, explained that the government has promised dislocated citizens financial compensation valued at approximately $170 each. Locals, however, are not satisfied. Many have not received the promised subsidy. Some evicted families have been led southwest by tribal leaders to the city of Ismailia. Many others have taken refuge in desert huts made from palm trees and the debris of destroyed homes outside of Rafah and two previously-invaded cities, Sheikh Zuweid and el-Arish. Lack of water and electricity is rampant. Military action against Islamic State fighters further endangers this region. Under the initials S.R., one Sinai native recounted, “We ran out of food 40 days ago, and we had to eat the barley reserves that my father would use to feed the donkey. We ate some vine leaves from our backyard. My wife would bake the vine leaves on a fire she made from the remaining leaves from our garden. We don’t have gasoline or electricity to cook or to operate the household appliances.” Another displaced citizen explained, under the initials M.A., how “Army forces including military tanks, armored vehicles, and a bulldozer surrounded my house and my neighbors’ without prior warning early on October 5 and raided it. They told me to leave immediately with my family and children so they could destroy my house. I tried to convince them to allow me to go back for my possessions, but one of the soldiers threatened to arrest me and accused me of sheltering terrorists.” M.A. expressed popular discontent with what many see as government hypocrisy, asking, “How can the Egyptian army and intelligence meet with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, but at the same time kick us out of our houses under the pretext of building a buffer zone that protects Egypt from Hamas...?” M.A. is referring to peace talks held in Cairo between October 10 and 12 between the two rival Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. Egypt was said to have facilitated discussion over reconciliation and revealed plans for reopening the Egyptian embassy in Gaza to monitor border crossing between Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula in Rafah. El-Sissi said the embassy would also help to alleviate the water and electricity crises faced by citizens in the Gaza Strip. Despite these plans, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh asserted that his military would not cease its current activity in the area, through which it has been challenging the authority of both Israel and Egypt at their respective borders. This region is now mired in tension. Egyptians have been displaced without notice by a government suspected of cooperating with a terrorist organization. Fighting between the Egyptian army and numerous Islamic State-affiliated factions in the Sinai region continues.