MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The attack on military outposts in North Sinai near the border with the Gaza Strip claimed lives of at least 70 soldiers, according to the UN estimates. Sinai Province, a local ISIL-affiliate, claimed responsibility for the assault in a Twitter statement.
"We condemn the most recent attack in Sinai since it is detrimental to our security and has implications on the relations [with Egypt]," Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy chairman of Hamas' political bureau, said Friday in the interview on Al-Quds TV, the Haaretz reported.
According to the media outlet, Abu Marzouk underlined that any improvements in the relations between Egypt and Hamas were always followed by incidents taking place in Sinai.
The Islamic State jihadist group mostly operates in Iraq and Syria, but it is also known to have affiliates in North Africa, Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The Sinai peninsula has been an unstable region since Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was ousted in a 2013 military coup.
