President al-Sisi has asked France for modern military equipment. Recent jihadist attacks on the Sinai, including a complex suicide and indirect fire attack that killed 32 security personnel on Jan. 29, have stoked nationalist sentiment in Egypt. A court has banned Hamas’ armed wing, labeling it a terrorist organization. An Egyptian policeman was arrested after he shot and killed an injured Islamist who had been detained by police and put in a Cairo hospital. Two women were killed when a rocket-propelled grenade hit their house after being launched at military checkpoint in the Sinai, while a third woman was killed in crossfire between militants and security forces in a separate incident.
