October 2014 Sinai attacks

October 2014 Sinai attacks
Part of the Sinai insurgency
Date 24 October 2014 (2014-10-24) Location Sheikh Zuweid and Al-Arish, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt 31°6′12″N 33°50′56″E / 31.10333°N 33.84889°E / 31.10333; 33.84889 Result State of emergency declared in the North Sinai Governorate. Rafah Border Crossing closed indefinitely. Rapid Deployment Forces deployed to the region.[1] Buffer zone to be established along the border with Gaza.[2]
Belligerents
Egypt Egyptian Army	Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Ansar Bait al-Maqdis)
Units involved
	Wilayah Sinai (Ansar Bait al-Maqdis)
Casualties and losses
33 soldiers killed 1 M60 destroyed 1 M113 destroyed	Unknown

Arish

Sheikh Zuweid

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Location on the Sinai Peninsula of the two cities attacked on 24 October 2014 by ISIL.

On 24 October 2014, militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis ISIL launched two attacks on Egyptian Armed Forces positions in the Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 33 security personnel in one of the deadliest assaults on the Egyptian military in decades.^[3]

The first attack in Sheikh Zuweid killed at least 30 soldiers, while the second one (which took place three hours later near Al-Arish) killed three soldiers. The incidents prompted Egypt's president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to call for a security meeting, during which a three-months state of emergency and curfew were announced.^[4] In addition, the Rafah border crossing with Gaza was closed, a buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt was initiated, a Hamas delegation was refused entry into Egypt, and peace talks between Israel and Gaza were postponed.^[5][6]