Photo Credit: Hamish2K / Wikimedia Commons
The Great Sphinx and the pyramids of Giza

The leader of Da’esh (ISIS) is exhorting his followers in Egypt to destroy the Sphinx and the pyramids.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi reportedly has said destroying the monuments is a “religious duty,” according to numerous sources quoted by Jihad Watch.

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A report by The Telegraph also quoted members of Da’esh as saying that “objects shouldn’t be the subject of idolization or worship.”

In addition, radical Islamic cleric Anjem Choudary, who lives in the UK, also told a BBC presenter, “When Egypt comes under the auspices of the Khalifa (Caliphate) there will be no more pyramids, no more Sphinx, no more idolatry. This will be just.”

So far, at least, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has empowered the Egyptian Army to fight off the Da’esh terrorists from the Sinai Province group and its ally, Hamas, who helped in its massive attack against the government.

The effort to repel the coordinated attack at 15 different sites by the terror organization required the use of ground and air forces together, including Egyptian F-16 fighter jets. Cairo requested – and received – Israel’s cooperation in allowing the entry of heavy artillery into the Sinai Peninsula, beyond what is authorized in the peace treaty between the two nations.

Israel likewise ramped up her own status to high alert along the southern border with Sinai last week, and closed the southern Negev’s’ Highway 12 to civilian traffic, just to be on the safe side.

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Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press and senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org and other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.