The Second Field Army began preparing on Tuesday for a military operation in the Gabal al-Halal area of Sinai, where the perpetrators of Sunday’s attack on the Egypt-Israel border are believed to have fled.

Military and Interior Ministry forces intensified their presence on the roads leading to the area, as well as on Rafah International Road and Karm Abu Salem Road near where the incident took place.

A number of special forces and police will assist the army in the Gabal al-Halal operation, a military leader in Rafah told Al-Masry Al-Youm. Reconnaissance helicopters will also be deployed in the area, he added.

Security sources said that the timing of the the military operation has not been determined. The attackers are believed to have escaped to the area after they were targeted by the Israeli Air Force when they breached the Israeli border in an armored vehicle.

Hassan Khalaf, an eyewitness, said that all of the attackers were not killed in the Israeli assault and that two cars that had accompanied the armored vehicle drove down a sand road toward Gabal al-Halal.

General Ahmed Wasfy, the leader of the Second Field Army, met with the head of the border guards, General Ahmed Youssef, until late Monday night in Arish.

Following the meeting, Wasfy told journalists that the military was committed to avenging the martyrs, and asked for patience so it could respond in a careful and strong manner.

Residents of Rafah on the Egyptian border met with military leaders Monday night to provide eyewitness testimony about the attackers.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm