An ISIS affiliate based in the Sinai Peninsula has claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s rocket attacks against Eilat and threatened to launch more in the future, The Times of Israel reported Thursday.

Sinai Province, which has an estimated 800 to 1,000 members, said in a statement online, “A military squad fired a number of Grad rockets at communities of Jewish usurpers in the town of Eilat.” The group claimed that the attack sought “to teach the Jews and the crusaders a proxy war will not avail them of anything.”

“The future will be more calamitous with Allah’s permission,” it warned.

Israel announced on Wednesday that Iron Dome batteries intercepted three rockets headed toward the southern resort city of Eilat. A fourth rocket fired from the Sinai fell in an open space. No injuries were reported, though several people were treated for shock.

Sinai Province was founded in 2011 under the name Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, with the purpose of attacking Israel and disrupting a natural gas pipeline between Egypt and Israel. In 2014, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis swore loyalty to ISIS and adopted its current name.

The Sinai-based jihadists have close ties to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, with Egyptian authorities claiming that Hamas transformed Sinai Province from, in the words of one Egyptian official, “a gang of Bedouin with light weapons into a well-trained, well-armed group of 800 militants.” These close links have enraged the Egyptian government and army, which are frequently targeted by Sinai Province. The group has also on several occasions fired at Israel.

Hamas provides medical care to Sinai Province fighters and helps the ISIS affiliate smuggle weapons into Egypt, the Times of Israel reported in December. Arik Agassi reported for The Tower in January 2016 that the alliance between Hamas and Sinai Province, which also includes funding and military training, serves as part of Iran’s plan to establish its hegemony across the Middle East.

[Photo: CNN / YouTube ]