Egyptian Christians flee Sinai as militants intensify attacks

Hundreds of Egyptian Christians have fled the Sinai Peninsula following a series of targeted attacks carried out by suspected militants in the region.

At least seven Christians have been killed in separate attacks in Sinai's El-Arish city in February.

On Thursday, militants gunned down Kamel Youssef, a plumber, in front of his wife and children, The Associated Press reported. According to a local priest, the militants also kidnapped his daughter and stabbed her to death before dumping the body near a police station.

Coptic families have been forced to flee their homes in the city after they reportedly received threatening phone calls.

The day before Youssef was shot, militants killed a Coptic Christian man and burned his son alive. Their bodies were then dumped on a roadside in El-Arish.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack, an Islamic State affiliate based in the Sinai peninsula vowed to step up attacks against Christians.

In a recently released video, the terror group encouraged its supporters to carry out more attacks against Christians, whom they described as their "favorite prey." The narrator of the video said that Christians should no longer be treated as "dhimmis," who enjoy a degree of state protection. The terror group stated that Christians should instead be considered as "infidels" who are empowering the West against Muslim nations.

At least 90 families who fled the Sinai Peninsula have arrived in Ismailiya city, 115 km. east of Cairo, according to Al Jazeera.

"The government helped find housing for some families and we rented apartments for the rest," said Father Kyrillos Ibrahim, who noted that each family included five members on average.

"It is hard to estimate if there will be more families coming, it depends how bad the situation is. We hope this is a temporary situation," he added.

Many rights activists saw the displacement as a sign that President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's administration has failed to provide a minimum of security of Coptic Christians in Sinai. The activists asserted that authorities only agreed to put up the families in government housing in Ismailiya after pressure on social media.

Besides the accommodation provided by the government, the families will be housed in private homes in and around the city.

"They're exhausted, with urgent needs for food and children's clothing," Nabil Shukrallah of Ismailiya's Evangelical Church. "They're terrified of the violence and brutality of the terrorists," he added.