Today's strikes by the Egyptian army shows that national security trumps jihadist extremists, which is progress

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Since the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, the Sinai peninsula - which abuts onto the Gaza Strip in the north - has been Egyptian territory, but demilitarised by both sides. It carries gas pipelines which take natural gas from Egypt to Israel.

Armed: Egyptian security forces stand by their Armoured Personell Carriers ahead of a military operation in the northern Sinai peninsula

A relatively neglected part of Egypt, Sinai is largely inhabited by Bedouin tribes. Some of these seem to have adopted the extreme Islamist ideology of Al Qaeda. They are also consorting with Salafist extremists within the Gaza strip. The Revolution in Egypt has meant that security in Sinai became a low priority.

Wounded: There have been several cross border incidents on the Sinai Peninsula, each resulting in death and injury for both Egyptian and Israeli troops

There have been several cross border incidents. One last August resulted in eight Israelis being killed. In response, Israel shot dead five Egyptian security personnel.

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On Sunday, a team of Sinai-based jihadists launched an attack on the border crossing post into Gaza at Rafah, in conjunction with their brethren from inside Gaza itself. This border crossing also allows egress into Israel itself.

Fear and uncertainty: Egyptians waited outside the El Arish Hospital after the jihadist attack, which killed 17 of the country's border guards

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They killed 17 Egyptian border guards and commandeered an armoured car and a truck. Suicide bombers in the truck blew an opening in the border defences. The armoured car - with another team of suicide bombers - sped into Israel before it was intercepted by an IDF fighter jet.

On this issue there is some limited convergence of interest between Egypt, Israel and Hamas, the terrorist organisation which rules Gaza. Israel cannot operate inside Sinai because for strategic reasons it needs the 'cold peace' with Egypt to continue.

As a smaller branch of the Muslim Brotherhood which now rules Egypt, Hamas cannot afford for lunatic jihadists in Gaza to mow down dozens of Egyptian soldiers. If nothing else, Egyptians are a patriotic people. President Morsi cannot fail to act.

Hence this morning, Egyptian army helicopters struck at jihadist encampments inside Sinai, reportedly killing twenty of them. The Egyptians and Hamas have also sealed off the network of tunnels connecting Sinai with Gaza, through which cheap fuel and goods routinely flow.

The alternative to robust and stern action by Cairo is that Israel will deal with threats to its security from Sinai itself, which would immediately turn what's left of the 'cold peace' into a 'hot war'. Judging from today's strikes by the Egyptian army, the Islamist regime in Cairo has decided that Egyptian national security trumps sympathy for jihadist extremists. That is a sign of progress, of a sort.