Armed Forces: Hamas member arrested in Sinai ‘confesses’ to terror plot

Army forces arrested a member of Hamas said to have been planning a terrorist attack in Sinai in the early hours of Wednesday morning, according to military spokesperson Ahmed Mohamed Ali.

The Palestinian, named as Goma’a Khamis Mohamed, was described as member of Hamas, the Islamist movement which governs neighboring Gaza Strip. Ali said that Mohamed “confessed during interrogations” that he planned to bomb “a vital security location.” The Armed Forces statement was released on Ali’s official Facebook page.

The arrest comes in the midst of an intensive military operation that the army has been carrying out in the Sinai Peninsula since July.

Earlier this month, the military said that the operation has led to the killing of 164 and the arrest of 592. The report said that those arrested include Egyptians, as well as people of other nationalities, including Palestinians and nationals of the United States and Britain.

In Wednesday’s statement, the military spokesperson also reported that Armed Forces in northern Sinai destroyed 28 terrorist bases and arrested four suspected “terrorists.”

Also in operations carried out Wednesday, 60 people were arrested west of the Suez Canal. According to the statement, four of those arrested were fleeing court convictions and 22 were wanted on misdemeanor charges. The remaining 34 arrested were identified as “Brotherhood politicians”; there was no word on what charges they faced.