CAIRO - Egypt Monday denied that the five rockets, which fell near the Israeli beach resort of Eilat and Jordan's port of Aqaba were fired from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
"No rockets were launched from the Sinai," said Egyptian sources. "To launch rockets from Egypt, it takes equipment and complicated logistical preparations. It is impossible, since the Sinai Peninsula has heavy security."
They excluded any possibility that Palestinian activists had launched the attack.
"We have a heavy security presence in Sinai, particularly along the Egyptian Israeli border. No suspicious activity has been reported anywhere in Sinai," the sources said.
The rockets landed in the area around Eilat Monday morning, one of which injured four people in nearby Jordan, in front of the InterContinental Hotel. One of the casualties later died; the other three were lightly wounded.
A second rocket also landed on the Jordanian side of the border, a third north of Eilat's hotel area, and two more in the Red Sea. The projectiles were Grad-type Katyushas.
The rockets prompted Egyptian authorities to launch a massive combing operation in the border areas, the Mail has learnt.
A Jordanian official close to the investigation said the rocket was fired from a location "southwest" of Aqaba – indicating Egypt's Sinai desert.
"Investigations proved that the rocket was fired from southwest of Aqaba," he told AFP. "One Jordanian was killed and four others were injured."
In Israel, Eilat police chief Moshe Cohen said initial reports suggested the rockets had been fired from "the south" – in an apparent reference to Sinai, which lies some 10 kilometres (six miles) south of Eilat.
An Israeli military source said the same. "It's probable that the rockets were fired from the direction of Egypt," she said.
