From the Daily News Egypt…

Security forces in North Sinai arrested around 15 Bedouins on Tuesday night after a protest which saw a government official and his driver injured.
Five people were also arrested on Wednesday after government forces stormed their houses.
Some of those detained were teenagers, who were taken into custody with their fathers, according to North Sinai Tagammu party member Ashraf El Hefny.
The arrests were carried out over the protest, with government officials accusing those they rounded up of inciting the demonstration.
On Tuesday, hundreds of Bedouins demonstrated in Bab Sedout, eight kilometers south of Rafah where security forces had earlier dismantled a tent set up for a peaceful sit-in by the Bedouins.
At Bab Sedout Bedouins burned tires and threw stones at government vehicles.
An AP report stated that the head of the emergency unit at Al-Arish hospital reported that government official Desouqi Mohamed El-Naggar, 52, was in critical condition and suffering from a head concussion, while his driver was slightly injured.
Besides protesting longstanding mistreatment at the hands of the government and the continued detention of many Sinai Bedouins, the protestors were also rallying against what they perceive as highly prohibitive conditions on bank loans by the Bank for Development and Agricultural Credit, which some 8,000 farmers are unable to repay.
“The bank has a lot of people in debt, in addition to the usual security crackdowns,” Hefny told Daily News Egypt.
Tensions between the government and the Bedouins continue to escalate as security crackdowns in the wake of a spate of bombings and economic disenfranchisement fuel Bedouin discontent.
Bedouin blogger, activist and founder of the Bedna Ne’esh (We Want to Live) movement Mussad Suleiman Hassan — known as Mussad Aboul Fagr — was arrested in Ismailiya on Dec. 26 and has been remanded in custody for 15 days pending investigation.

In other developments…

Israeli troops at the Kerem Shalom crossing, 3.5 km south of Gaza, opened fire Thursday on Egyptian houses killing Hmeidan Suweilam, a Sinai Bedouin whose house lies on the border.
Suweilam’s house was one of 150 houses subject to Israeli gunfire, AFP reported. Suweilam died after being taken to a hospital to treat bullet wounds.
No explanation or comment has been offered by the Israelis regarding the incident, which comes at a volatile time in Egyptian-Israeli relations.