Arabic media are reporting that unidentified gunmen cut off the road between El Arish and Rafah to prevent the passage of vehicles filled with construction materials destined for the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing.
Many residents of the Sinai object to the introduction of building materials and other goods to the Gaza Strip worth millions of dollars, while the people of Sinai do not benefit from any aid themselves.
This especially rankled Egyptians in the Sinai because, in general, people living in the Sinai have a worse standard of living than Gazans do.
Egypt started allowing construction material to go through the Rafah crossing in recent months, a project bankrolled by Qatar to the tune of $400 million.
