| Which would explain why a "mastermind" blew himself up. |
Two other suspects were said to be at large: Mohamed Ahmed Saleh Flayfil, brother of Suleiman Flayfil, and Hammad Gaman Gomah. Mohamed Flayfil was accused of carrying out the attack on one of the campgrounds and Gomah was accused of carrying out the third bombing. The ministry said police had arrested five suspects who had lower level roles, including obtaining explosives and the cars used in the attacks. The statement did not say when the five were arrested or provide other details of their capture.The Interior Ministry said mastermind Salah acted "in reaction to the deteriorating situation in the occupied territories to carry out an act targeting Israelis." The ministry accused Salah of turning "to religious fanaticism" after a criminal past that included a rape conviction. Monday's Interior Ministry statement made no mention of a broader conspiracy in the Oct. 7 bombing. Fingers had been pointed at al-Qaeda, the anti-Western, anti-Israeli terror network known for the kind of secretive, sophisticated planning believed necessary to pull off an attack like the Sinai bombings. A senior Egyptian security officer told The Associated Press Salah had links with a Palestinian Islamic group in Gaza, but would not say which group. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity. The statement said the Egyptian suspects were residents of the Sinai, territory Israel had captured from Egypt in the 1967 Mideast war and returned in 1982 under terms of the first Israeli-Arab peace treaty. The statement said Salah, the Palestinian, lived in the Sinai town of al-Arish.