The Egyptian army has deployed military and armored vehicles to the Sinai Peninsula in response to the kidnapping of seven Egyptian soldiers. The captives were shown in a video released earlier this week begging Morsi to save them. The incident has deepened tensions between Egyptian security forces and Hamas.

The kidnapping also highlights the growing instability in the peninsula, particularly the northern part that borders the Gaza Strip and Israel. Criminal gangs, militants and local tribesmen disgruntled with what they say is state discrimination and heavy-handed security crackdowns have exploited the security vacuum brought by Egypt’s 2011 uprising. Armed groups smuggle weapons, attack security forces and kidnap tourists to trade for relatives held in Egyptian jails.

Egyptian officials blame the Iran-backed terror group for maintaining smuggling tunnels used by jihadis crossing between the Gaza Strip, which the Palestinian faction controls, and the Egyptian-controlled Sinai.

Disgruntled border policemen there have gone on strike, shutting crossings into the Gaza Strip and Israel to demand the release of their colleagues. Hundreds more policemen joined them Monday, closing down police stations in North Sinai’s capital el-Arish and other towns.

The result has been a media-driven cold war between Hamas and the Egyptian army, with the Egyptian army linking Hamas to violence in Egypt stretching back to the 2011 Arab Spring revolution. Egyptian commentators are calling on Cairo to “close all the tunnels… once and for all” in response to the most recent kidnapping.

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