Armed group in the Sinai declares it will fight Israel

[Valin]

FDD's Long War Journal

Joe Truzman

January 18, 2024

An ostensible Sinai-based armed group calling itself Kitaib al-Farouq (KF) has recently released a statement asserting its intention to carry out offensive operations against Israel as a response to the ongoing war in Gaza.

The statement published by KF notes the war in Gaza and the number of Palestinian casualties as the reason for the formation of the new organization. The speaker urges Arabs, Muslims, and others to take up arms and fight Israel due to the “injustice” that is occurring in Gaza. The group goes on to threaten attacks on the border area of southern Israel, including Eilat.

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attacks, there have not been any reported assaults by Egyptian insurgents against southern Israel due to the war. However, on Jan. 15, gunmen injured an IDF soldier following an attempt to cross into Israel from Egypt. Though Egyptian officials said that the incident was related to drug smuggling.

By all indications, KH appears to be a newly formed group that does not have any apparent associations with well-known terrorist groups such as the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, or Palestinian armed factions. Additionally, the presence of Muhammed Salah’s image hanging in the background suggests that the members of this group are most likely a local Egyptian cell.

(Snip)

____________________________________________________________________

Jan 19, 2024

A recently-establish group calling itself "the Al-Farouq Brigades in Sinai" published an eight-minute-long video on its Telegram channel on January 17, 2024, showing three masked fighters standing on the backdrop of a photo of Mohammad Salah, the Egyptian soldier who carried out the June 2023 shooting on the border between Israel and Egypt that left several Israeli soldiers dead. A masked man read a message, which said that it is the duty of every Muslim to take up arms and wage Jihad, to defend the people of Palestine and avenge the blood of the “martyrs.” He called for members of the armed forces in Egypt and other countries bordering Israel, as well as any other person that carried weapons in these countries to take action. In addition, he said that boycotting McDonald's and Starbucks is not enough, and asked: “What are you waiting for? Are our lives worth more than the lives of our brothers in Gaza?“