Sisi: A Hard and Long War with 'Terrorists' Ahead

Two days after jihadist groups attacked the Egyptian army in the Sinai Peninsula, and simultaneously declaring the military branch of Hamas in Egypt as 'terrorists', Abdel Fattah Sisi, the President of Egypt, described the war against jihadist groups as a 'hard, severe, and prolonged battle.' In his televised remarks on Saturday, February 11, he added that the Egyptian army 'will not surrender the Sinai Peninsula to the terrorists.' On Thursday, extensive attacks by Islamist militants on army and police headquarters in northern Sinai left at least 30 dead and dozens injured. The group 'Ansar Beit al-Maqdis,' which recently pledged allegiance to the 'Islamic State' (formerly ISIS), claimed responsibility for those attacks. Sisi also announced the formation of an 'anti-terrorism' military command that will expand its operations into the Sinai Peninsula. He simultaneously reiterated that the Muslim Brotherhood is behind the violence in the country. Following the military's overthrow of Mohamed Morsi's government and the ensuing protests and violence, the Muslim Brotherhood was declared a 'terrorist' organization and dissolved in Egypt. On Saturday, just hours before Sisi's remarks, a Cairo court ruled that Hamas's military wing, known as the 'Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades,' was a 'terrorist' organization. According to court officials, this ruling was issued based on a complaint from a lawyer who accused Hamas's military wing of direct involvement in terrorist operations in the Sinai Peninsula and smuggling weapons through secret tunnels at the Rafah border with Gaza for jihadist groups. The Egyptian army claims to have discovered and destroyed over 1,600 tunnels in the region since the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi's government in the summer of 2013. Meanwhile, Hamas officials described the court ruling as a 'dangerous political decision that serves the occupiers.' Iran's reaction to the attacks on Egyptian military forces has also been notable. For instance, Hassan Firouzabadi, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, on Sunday, February 12, called these attacks 'suspicious' and stated that those who carry out these attacks 'knowingly or unknowingly' assist Israel. He added, 'Islamic forces in the Sinai Peninsula are stationed there to prevent Zionist aggression against Islamic lands, including the strategic Sinai Peninsula, and it is ignorance for them to be attacked.' Earlier, on Thursday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry described the attacks in northern Sinai as actions to 'distract Islamic countries and the region from the main priority of the Islamic world, which is supporting the Palestinian people and defending the Holy Quds.'