Nine people were arrested in North Sinai this week, after members of the Armed Forces made arrests and fired live ammunition to break up crowds of people from the Roumailat and Sawarka tribes who had gathered on Monday in several villages in Rafah and Sheikh Zuwayed to demand the right …

The official narrative in which an Israeli tank “accidentally” hit an Egyptian military post on the border with Israel over the weekend has been met with doubts in Egypt as Israel ramps up a non-stop, deadly and indiscriminate bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip for the third consecutive week.

The Sinai Foundation for Human Rights (SFHR) published photos of Israeli reconnaissance aircraft which it said were surveying the Egyptian city of Rafah and the village of Mahdia at the moment an Israeli tank shot at an Egyptian army position – which Tel Aviv reported was accidental.

The military spokesperson for the Egyptian army confirmed in a Sunday evening statement that some members of an Egyptian border control tower were accidentally injured by shrapnel from an Israeli tank.

Israel’s Defence Force (IDF) announced in a statement on Twitter that an IDF tank accidentally opened fire and hit an Egyptian post adjacent to the border in the Kerem Shalom region on Sunday evening, 22 October.

Since announcing its “war on Hamas” on Saturday following what has been called “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”, Israel has been relentlessly striking the Gaza Strip in retaliation.

Egypt on Tuesday moved to prevent a mass exodus from the besieged Gaza Strip into its Sinai Peninsula as Israeli bombardment prevented crossing at the Rafah border crossing, which is the Palestinian enclave’s main exit point, Gaza officials and Egyptian security sources said.

Gaza’s sole border crossing with Egypt, the only entry point not controlled by Israel, was hit by an Israeli air strike Tuesday for the third time in 24 hours, an AFP photographer and an NGO said.

In a concerning development, Israeli occupation aircraft bombed the gate at the Rafah Crossing, which serves as a vital link between Egypt and Gaza.

Hospitals, schools, food suppliers and gas stations in North Sinai are making preparations to deal with the massive potential humanitarian fallout from Gaza as Israel sets out plans for an escalation against Palestinians inside the besieged strip.