'Israeli air strikes' Egypt's Sinai following IS attack

Israel launched an airstrike on the city of Rafah in Egypt's north Sinai governorate on Tuesday, sources have said.

Loud explosions rocked the city of Rafah and the outskirts of Sheikh Zuweid in the northern Sinai, near the border with the besieged Gaza Strip, on Tuesday afternoon, a local source told The New Arab's Arabic-language service.

Israeli warplanes flew through Gaza's airspace to reach the Sinai peninsula, witnesses told The New Arab.

Israel has previously carried out drone strikes on militants in North Sinai, indicating there is comprehensive military cooperation between Cairo and Tel Aviv.

The Israeli attack is the second major event to rock the area. Two Egyptian soldiers were killed in a militant attack in Sheikh Zuweid on Tuesday.

Eyewitnesses told The New Arab that gunmen, believed to be linked to Islamic State group, ambushed the Egyptian army convoy.

Ambulances rushed to the scene of the attack and the dead and wounded were transferred to hospital, the sources added.

Medical sources at Al-Arish hospital told the The New Arab that two were killed and four wounded in the attack.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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