Hundreds of Israeli tourists returned home from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula after Tel Aviv issued warnings of possible kidnappings in the area, the Associated Press, citing police sources, reported.
Israel’s anti-terrorism office called on Israeli vacationers in Sinai to "leave immediately and return home," citing "concrete evidence of an expected terrorist attempt to kidnap Israelis in Sinai." The office director claimed that militants based in the Gaza Strip, which is governed by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas, were involved in the alleged scheme.
The Palestinian Maan News Agency reported that a communiqué issued by the Israeli Prime Minister’s office had urged all Israelis in Sinai to return home immediately. "Families of Israelis residing in Sinai are asked to contact them and update them on the travel warning," the communique read.
"According to concrete intelligence, we anticipate immediate terror activities to kidnap an Israeli in Sinai," Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu’s office was quoted as saying by United Press International.
AP quoted an Israeli police spokesman as saying that some 650 Israelis were thought to be in Sinai when the warning was issued on 13 April, 430 of whom returned to Israel the following morning. "It is very possible that, at this moment, there is a terror cell that has the intention…to kidnap an Israeli and bring him to Gaza," Israeli Brigadier General Nitzan Nuriel was quoted as saying.
An Egyptian state security source that insisted on anonymity told Al-Masry Al-Youm that there was no information about irregularities in Sinai and that no special security forces had been deployed in the area.
Beach resorts in southern Sinai have been popular destinations for Israeli tourists as a cheap vacation alternatives. Israelis visit the area all year round, especially during Jewish holidays such as Yom Kippur and Passover.
In 2004, major bombings struck the Hilton Taba Hotel and a tourist camp located in the nearby Ras Shaitan resort. Similar attacks followed in 2005 and 2006 in the south Sinai cities of Sharm el-Sheikh and Dahab respectively.
Al-Masry Al-Youm spoke to one camp owner on the Taba-Nuweiba coastline who said that visiting Israeli tourists were informed of the warnings yesterday but nevertheless opted to stay. “They thought the warnings were only natural since some violent reactions are expected following the West Bank evictions,” he said on condition of anonymity.
Earlier this week, the Israeli government announced a decision to evict thousands of Palestinians from their homes in the occupied West Bank.
“Such warnings have been strong, especially since the rumors about kidnappings,” he said. "But many tourists who come here think the whole thing’s a ploy to encourage them to travel within Israel and thereby benefit the national economy."
Last year, Israeli tourists in south Sinai told Al-Masry Al-Youm that they preferred to spend their vacations on the 70-kilometer Taba-Nuweiba coastline instead of at the nearby Israeli resort city of Eilat. For one, they said, Egyptian resorts cost considerably less than thier Israeli counterparts.
According to the camp owner, the number of Israelis visiting the area fell significantly following the outbreak of the second Palestinian Intifada in 2000. But by 2004, before the first spate of bombings, traffic had picked up again–only to fall again sharply in the wake of the attacks, after which it never fully recovered.
“We’ve been trying to market ourselves to Egyptian tourists now that we can no longer rely on Israeli tourism,” the camp owner said.
