ISIS (archive)
ISIS (archive)Reuters

Bedouin elements in the Sinai Peninsula revealed the identity of the leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) organization in the village of Sheikh Zuweid, who was killed a few days ago in an Egyptian army operation and was known as Abu Ja'far al-Maqdisi.

The Al-Hayat newspaper reported that al-Maqdisi's real name is Muhammad 'Abd al-Latif Abu Jazar, a Palestinian Arab resident of the Gaza Strip.

Sheikh Zuweid serves as a meeting point between the ISIS cells operating on the Rafah border with Gaza and the El-Arish area of Sinai.

Egyptian General Khaled Akasha, who is a member of the National Council for Combating Terrorism, said that Abu Jazar was active in the Islamic Jihad before joining ISIS.

He added that Abu Jazar was the liaison between ISIS operatives in Gaza and activists in the Sinai Peninsula.

Egypt has been fighting an insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula for several years. Most of the attacks in the region during this time period have been claimed by the Sinai Province, Egypt's ISIS affiliate.

The country has been under a state of emergency since April last year, after two suicide bombings at churches claimed by ISIS killed at least 45 people in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria.

In February, Egypt launched operation “Sinai 2018” in an effort to rid the Sinai Peninsula of Islamic terrorists.