A high-ranking military source revealed to Al-Masry Al-Youm that the investigation of Jihadist leader Hamada Abou Shita, who was arrested in the Sinai on Friday evening (August 30), has led to the discovery of important details concerning the identity of the perpetrators of the terrorist attack in Rafah in early August.

The source — a member of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) involved in the Sinai operations — said that Abou Shita has made a number of confessions to the military prosecution in Ismailia regarding the identity of the perpetrators. It has been discovered that the perpetrators include two Palestinians who entered Egypt through tunnels from Gaza on July 31. The source added that they lived with the defendant for six days, during which they prepared for the attack. He added that Abou Shita said during the investigation that he was not aware they intended to carry out the attack, stressing that he had welcomed them into his home as friends.

According to the same source, Abou Shita said that his two Palestinian guests left his house on the morning of the attack and returned at 7:30 p.m. to collect their belongings. They told him that they had taken part in the attack and then left the house in a car without plates.

The SCAF member said that a Palestinian passport was found where Abou Shita was captured, and confirmed that Egyptian authorities sent a request yesterday (September 3) to Hamas officials asking them to quickly arrest the two suspects and hand them over to Egypt for trial. The source noted that 21 people have been accused and detained, and that three of them would be released in a few days, having been proven innocent.

In a related development, military forces continued to withdraw heavy military vehicles from Northern Sinai, and calm prevailed as field operations for Operation Eagle came to a stop.

In the South Sinai governorate, security forces in Sharm El Sheikh have withdrawn all officers from checkpoints after two young Bedouins were killed yesterday during an exchange of fire with the police. This led to a number of the victims’ relatives burning a police car and blocking Assalam Road in front of Sharm El Sheikh International Hospital, and abducting a police officer who was later released.