![A view shows a damaged mosque after assaults on militant targets by the Egyptian Army, in a village on the outskirts of Sheikh Zuweid, near the city of El-Arish in Egypt's Sinai peninsula September 10, 2013. Egypt has tightened control of crossings from the Sinai peninsula and continued assaults on militants after an Islamist group based there said it tried to kill the interior minister in Cairo last week, the state news agency reported on Monday. REUTERS/Stringer (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION CIVIL UNR](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/01/RTX13GPL.jpg/RTX13GPL.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=hJhY8JOb)
Mohannad Sabry is an Egyptian journalist based in Cairo. He was a finalist for the 2011 Livingston Award, and his writings have been published by The Miami Herald, several McClatchy newspapers, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Times, GlobalPost and others. His new book is "Sinai: Egypt's Linchpin, Gaza's Lifeline, Israel's Nightmare." On Twitter: @mmsabry
![A view shows a damaged mosque after assaults on militant targets by the Egyptian Army, in a village on the outskirts of Sheikh Zuweid, near the city of El-Arish in Egypt's Sinai peninsula September 10, 2013. Egypt has tightened control of crossings from the Sinai peninsula and continued assaults on militants after an Islamist group based there said it tried to kill the interior minister in Cairo last week, the state news agency reported on Monday. REUTERS/Stringer (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION CIVIL UNR](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/01/RTX13GPL.jpg/RTX13GPL.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=hJhY8JOb)
![Mohannad Sabry](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=JCeHfqyw)
Mohannad Sabry
![A man walks near debris after an explosion near a security building in Egypt's Nile Delta city of Mansoura in Dakahlyia province, about 120 km (75 miles) northeast of Cairo December 24, 2013. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood condemned the bomb attack on the security compound in the Dakahlyia which killed 12 people and wounded more than 100 early on Tuesday, a month before a vote on a new constitution key to transition from military-backed rule. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST DIS](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/untitled/RTX16T3N.jpg/RTX16T3N.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=JzJI3y-4)
![Mohannad Sabry](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=JCeHfqyw)
Mohannad Sabry
![A policeman stands guard at the scene of a bomb blast that damaged a bus near the Al-Azhar University campus in Cairo's Nasr City district December 26, 2013. The bomb blast hit the bus on Thursday, injuring four people, a spokesman for Egypt's interior ministry told Reuters, two days after a car bomb killed 16 in the Nile Delta. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX16U8W](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/12/RTX16U8W.jpg/RTX16U8W.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=To1zrFGA)
![Mohannad Sabry](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=JCeHfqyw)
Mohannad Sabry
![Residents and tourists watch as smoke raises near a state security building after a blast in South Sinai October 7, 2013. Medical sources said three were killed and 48 injured in the blast near the state security building in South Sinai. A witness said it was caused by a car bomb. REUTERS/Stringer (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX142T0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/12/RTX142T0.jpg/RTX142T0.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=FhHJWgko)
![Mohannad Sabry](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=JCeHfqyw)
Mohannad Sabry
![An Egyptian army soldier guards with an armoured personnel carrier (APC) near Tahrir Square in Cairo August 19, 2013. Suspected Islamist militants killed at least 24 Egyptian policemen on Monday in the Sinai peninsula, where attacks on security forces have multiplied since the army overthrew President Mohamed Mursi on July 3. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX12QU2](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/09/RTX12QU2.jpg/RTX12QU2.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=gphLnJmw)
![Mohannad Sabry](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=JCeHfqyw)
Mohannad Sabry
![Mohannad Sabry](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=JCeHfqyw)
Mohannad Sabry
![Army soldiers stand guard around the area where rocket-propelled grenades hit a bus in El-Arish city, North Sinai July 15, 2013. At least three people were killed and 17 wounded when suspected militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at a bus carrying workers in Egypt's North Sinai province early on Monday, security and medical sources said. REUTERS/Stringer (EGYPT - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTX11NA2](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/08/El-Arish-checkpoint-Sinai.jpg/El-Arish-checkpoint-Sinai.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=tgy2O44g)
![Mohannad Sabry](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=JCeHfqyw)
Mohannad Sabry
![The caskets of 25 policemen killed early Monday morning near the north Sinai town of Rafah are carried after arriving at Almaza military airport in Cairo August 19, 2013. The 25 Egyptian policemen were killed and three others wounded in an ambush by Islamist militants, medical and security sources said. Attacks by Islamist militants in the lawless north Sinai region have intensified since the army overthrew Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on July 3. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVI](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/08/RTX12R49.jpg/RTX12R49.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=jr3cRhpP)
![Mohannad Sabry](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=JCeHfqyw)
Mohannad Sabry
![The caskets of 25 policemen killed early Monday morning near the north Sinai town of Rafah lay on the ground after arriving at Almaza military airport in Cairo August 19, 2013. The 25 Egyptian policemen were killed and three others wounded in an ambush by Islamist militants, medical and security sources said. Attacks by Islamist militants in the lawless north Sinai region have intensified since the army overthrew Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on July 3. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITI](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/08/1-RTX12R70.jpg/1-RTX12R70.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=aPz3ONTt)
![Mohannad Sabry](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=JCeHfqyw)
Mohannad Sabry
![Army soldiers stand guard near the Republican Guard headquarters after clashes with supporters of deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi, in Cairo, July 8, 2013. The death toll in violence on Monday at the Cairo headquarters of the Republican Guard rose to 42, Egyptian state television said, after the Muslim Brotherhood accused the security forces of attacking protesters there. REUTERS/ Asmaa Waguih (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX11GJ0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/07/1-RTX11GJ0.jpg/1-RTX11GJ0.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=M4QVEeC-)
![Mohannad Sabry](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=JCeHfqyw)
Mohannad Sabry
![Anti-Mursi protesters are pictured during clashes with members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi near Maspero, Egypt's state TV and radio station, near Tahrir square in Cairo July 5, 2013. Seventeen people were killed in violence in Egypt on Friday as supporters of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi protested his overthrow by the army, state television said, quoting Health Ministry data. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/07/Cairo-clash-July-5-2013.jpg/Cairo-clash-July-5-2013.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=NV_JElQd)
![Mohannad Sabry](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg/Mohannad%20Sabry.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=JCeHfqyw)
Mohannad Sabry