ISMAILIA, Egypt, July 5 (Reuters) - Egyptian police seized 1.2 tonnes of explosives in Sinai on Thursday, a security source said, adding they suspected the material had been destined to be smuggled into Gaza.

The source said a Bedouin reported finding a plastic sack filled with high explosive in the mountains in al-Roda, 60 km north of al-Arish, and a police search of the area turned up 28 sacks. In June, police found over a ton of explosives in Sinai.

Egyptian police routinely find large quantities of explosives and ammunition in Sinai, sometimes hidden in tunnels near the border with neighbouring Gaza.

Tensions have also mounted recently between Egyptian police and Sinai Bedouin who took to the streets in April over the deaths of two Bedouin in a shootout with the police.

Hundreds of Bedouin later massed near the border with Israel, seeking entry to the Jewish state because of what they describe as poor treatment from Egyptian authorities.

Egypt has blamed a group of Sinai Bedouin sympathetic with the Palestinians for attacks on resorts popular with Israeli tourists in the peninsula since 2004.

Bedouin and human rights groups say Egyptian security services launched campaigns of arbitrary arrests of Bedouin after each attack, fuelling public anger in Sinai.

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