Egypt arrested 12 Hamas militants with weapons and explosives in the Sinai Peninsula near its breached border with the Gaza Strip, Egyptian security officials said Friday.
Army Radio quoted Egyptian officials as saying the men, who belonged to two separate terror cells, were planning to attack Israeli tourists in Sinai.
The sources said the men are believed to have crossed the Gaza Strip border into Egypt a week after gunmen blew holes in the border wall allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to pour into the country to stock up for supplies. Two of the militants escaped, Israel Radio reported, and Egyptian security forces were searching for them.
Egypt will close its Rafah border crossing within the next hours while the Salahaddin crossing will remain open to Palestinians who are still in the area until a total border closure is imposed, security sources told the semi-official al-Ahram newspaper.
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