Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his condolences for the Egyptian soldiers killed, and praised IDF troops for their preparedness and handling of the attack.

[16] Eight Israelis – six civilians, one Yamam Special Unit police officer, and one Golani Brigade soldier – were killed during the multi-pronged attack.

[21] In early August 2012, Israel's National Security Council's counter-terrorism bureau renewed its travel advisory against visiting the Sinai Peninsula, due to information on potential terrorist attacks against tourists, including kidnappings.

[22] The warning may have been due to Hamas' release of Abu Walid al-Maqdisi, a Salafi leader of an al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group, responsible for three bombings in Dahab in 2006, and which is believed to have close ties with terror cells operating in the Sinai Peninsula.

Armored, Engineering, and Infantry soldiers were placed on high alert while the Israeli Air Force was deployed in the area as reinforcement.

[3][7] After firing on the police, the gunmen commandeered two Fahd wheeled armored personnel carriers and attempted to break through the Kerem Shalom checkpoint into Israel.

[27] Israeli and Egyptian authorities believe that the perpetrators belonged to a global jihad network, and were assisted by Bedouin tribes in the Sinai in return for money.

[26][32][33] The New York Times and BBC described the attack as a sign that armed groups were continuing to grow in power in the Sinai region, which was "slipping from [Egypt]'s control".

[1] Morsi ordered security forces to take complete control over the Sinai, and declared three days of mourning to honor the 16 Egyptian soldiers who were killed.

"[35] The Muslim Brotherhood released a statement calling on the government to "confront this serious challenge to the Egyptian sovereignty" as well as to "protect Sinai from all armed groups.

"[37] The party also claimed on its website that the attack "can be attributed to the Mossad", Israel's intelligence service, in an effort to destabilize the government, which the Israeli foreign ministry denied as "nonsense.

[39] On 7 August, at a funeral for the soldiers who were killed, Prime Minister Hesham Qandil was assaulted and attacked by angry mourners, who also vandalized his car.

[41] On 8 August, Egyptian officials told Al-Hayat that they believe that members of the Gaza-based Army of Islam, or Jaysh al-Islam, designated as a terrorist group by the United States, participated in the attack.

[43] On 9 August, a Palestinian daily reported that Egypt's General Intelligence demanded the extradition of three senior members of Hamas's armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, for their involvement in the attack.

One security source said that it is believed that they have delivered "indirect logistical support" to a radical group located in the Sinai, which perpetrated the attack.

[44] That same day, an initial forensic report on the bodies of the gunmen suggested that the perpetrators were wearing military uniforms created in the Palestinian city of Nablus.

He stated that Egypt had received intelligence that these militants were communicating with jihadist groups in Al Mukataa, south of Sheikh Zuwayed.

Bedouin leader Ibrahim Al Menei said that the Yemeni militants were smuggled in from Sudan with African migrants, and that word spread among the community.

[45] A few days after the attack, forces from the army and the police engaged in an operation against armed men who have been targeting security personnel in North Sinai.

[7] Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said that Israel and Egypt would increase security cooperation following the attack, and said that they already saw improvements on the ground.

Palestinian security officials expressed concern that the attack could worsen relations between Egypt and the Gaza Strip government, and said that for this reason Israeli forces might have been behind the assault.

"[54] On 9 August, Gazan philanthropist Abdul Dayem Abu-Midin promised to give $10,000 to each individual family related to the Egyptian soldiers who were killed during the attack, telling a Hamas-affiliated center that he is doing this out of "the love of a Palestinian citizen to a sister-nation.

[55] On 11 August, the Palestinian Authority requested that Egypt destroy all of the smuggling tunnels located under the Egypt-Gaza border, which would enforce a stricter Egyptian blockade on Gaza.

"[56] United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the attack as an act of terrorism, noting that it killed 16 Egyptian soldiers and put Israeli citizens at risk, and conveyed his condolences to the families of the victims.