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How Israel spies on Sinai

Israel recruits Egyptian smugglers in the Sinai Peninsula to perform various missions for Israeli intelligence.
An Egyptian soldier stands behind a barbed wire fence on the border between Israel and Egypt some 50 km (30 miles) north of Eilat in this November 28, 2010 file photo, after work begun to construct a barrier to seal off part of the border with Egypt's Sinai desert. Arms smuggling by Bedouin tribal networks, mainly by land along Egypt's southern border with Sudan, across the Sinai peninsula and into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip is on the uptick, according to an Egyptian official, who asked not to be named. Sudan

RAFAH, Egypt — Israeli intelligence services have expanded their activities in the Sinai Peninsula since the Hosni Mubarak regime fell in 2011, and along with it, the Sinai state security apparatus affiliated with the Egyptian Ministry of Interior. This security apparatus was the only representative of Egyptian sovereignty over Sinai for three decades. State security developed a sour reputation among locals, who knew it only for its notorious practices in the peninsula in its attempts to reduce the influence of religious groups and weapons smugglers.

Israeli interventions in the area came with Israel’s growing concern about the movement of militant religious groups in the Egyptian peninsula, especially in the border areas adjacent to Israel.

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