The “threat of terror from Sinai” has grown in recent years, said Brigadier General Royi Elcabets. Photo: Kaidor via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Israeli Brigadier General Royi Elcabets said that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) may launch an attack on Islamic State terrorists in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula if it perceives a possible attack on Israeli targets.

The “threat of terror from Sinai” has grown in recent years, Elcabets said at a ceremony marking the end of his two years as commander of the military division controlling Israel’s border with the Sinai, AFPreported.

“It is our duty to preempt it and strike at it, if and when this happens,” he said.

Islamic State terrorists have killed hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and policemen since 2013, and Egypt says its military has killed more than 1,000 such terrorists in the area.

Israel recently “agreed to Egypt’s request to allow more Egyptian forces and devices into Sinai, and provided intelligence to Egypt”—more than the amount stipulated in Israel’s 1979 peace agreement with Israel, noted Elcabets.