The incidents prompted Egypt's president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to call for a security meeting, during which a three-months state of emergency and curfew were announced.

[5][6] At approximately 2 p.m. on 24 October 2014, a car bomb targeting two armored vehicles exploded at a heavily-guarded military checkpoint in the al-Kharouba area northwest of Al-Arish near the Gaza Strip, killing at least 18 soldiers.

When more officers were deployed to the bomb site, gunmen rushed in, some of them on vehicles, and attacked using rocket-propelled grenades and other heavy weaponry, killing ten soldiers at least.

[8][7] On 14 November, militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which pledged to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as its Wilayat Sinai published a video claiming responsibility and showing the execution of the attack.

[15] On 29 October, Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb issued a decree ordering the "isolation" and "evacuation" of 79 square kilometers along the Egypt-Gaza border as a buffer zone, which included the entire town of Rafah.

[16] Communications have been shut down, which coincided with a large military operation east of Al-Arish announced by the Ministry of Defense, that was underway in the region to locate and target militant hideouts.