CAIRO — The Building and Development Party, the political wing of Gamaa Islamiya, launched the Save Sinai Initiative on April 22. The initiative was designed to halt violence in the Sinai Peninsula and was announced just before Sinai Liberation Day, which is celebrated every year on April 25.

According to the party’s April 22 statement, the initiative consists of four phases: avoid any further deterioration, contain the crisis and create the right atmosphere for the resolution; embark on talks to identify problems; develop a comprehensive plan establishing a timeline for implementing solutions; and implement this plan via national reconciliation.

Since President Mohammed Morsi was ousted in mid-2013 and Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) in November 2014, violence has been on the rise across Sinai. Attacks targeting the Egyptian army, police and civilians have further increased; most recently, on April 19, gunmen attacked a security checkpoint near the Monastery of St. Catherine in South Sinai.

The Save Sinai Initiative called on armed groups in Sinai to halt attacks as of April 25, and the Egyptian government was asked to stop raids on the same day, to pave the way for a national conference involving all tribes and influential parties in Sinai and initiate an open dialogue.