Egypt's plan to create a security buffer zone along its border with Gaza is not a solution to growing militancy in the Sinai region as it does not address the roots of the problem, the head of Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

Hundreds of residents in the Gaza city of Rafah, near the Palestinian-Egyptian border, have been complaining of the continuous sounds of penetrating explosions on the Egyptian side, Pls48.net news website reported on Tuesday.

The Egyptian militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis pledged allegiance to ISIS' leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Monday, joining a growing number of jihadist groups outside of Syria and Iraq who’ve offered their support to the self-declared caliphate.

They have slaughtered hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police officers, recruited experienced fighters and staged increasingly sophisticated raids from the Western desert to the Sinai Peninsula. They have beheaded informants and killed an American in a carjacking, say Western officials familiar with intelligence reports.

The US has said it will "assess" the potential implications of an Egyptian jihadist group's pledge of allegiance to Islamic State (IS).

The interior ministry has vowed to block protests by a Salafist group calling for the implementation of Sharia law.

An audio recording published by Sinai-based jihadist group Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis has said the group pledges allegiance to Islamic State (IS).

Egypt's ultra-conservative Islamist "Salafist Front" is calling on its allies to protest on 28 November to "impose the Islamic identity without disguise."

The Salafi Front has renewed threats of an “Islamic revolution” during Islamist protests planned for 28 November, stressing they are ready with a plan to take on security forces.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed on Monday that one of its naval vessels fired on a boat returning from the Sinai Peninsula towards the Gaza Strip.

Operations carried out by the armed forces on Sunday have left one militant killed after an exchange of gunfire with security forces.

An audio recording published by Sinai-based jihadist group Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis has said the group pledges allegiance to Islamic State (IS).

The East Cairo Prosecution referred on Monday three students at al-Azhar University to the criminal court for committing on-campus acts of violence.

The Cairo Criminal Court postponed on Sunday the trial of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi over complicity in the killing of protesters until December 1.

A man was killed and two others injured on Sunday in Egypt's central Beni Suef governorate in clashes between citizens and the police in the village of El-Maymoun.

A Salafi leader allied with the Muslim Brotherhood has vowed to stage an “Islamic Revolution” on Friday, 28 November, across the republic.

Giza security services have arrested an alleged criminal who escaped two death sentences and nine life sentences, within efforts to step up security in al-Saff area.

Egypt's army has announced that it has killed eight suspected militants in North Sinai, as part of its ongoing anti-jihadist operations.