Reports said about seventy fighters simultaneously attacked five checkpoints in the area on Wednesday, the sources said, adding that at least 22 of the fighters were killed and three of their vehicles were destroyed.
Fighters have taken over two tanks at Sinai checkpoint, as clashes continue, reports said
Local media reports suggested the death toll of Wednesday's attacks could be much higher.
A police station in the town of Sheikh Zuweid was among the targets of the attacks, witnesses said.
The attacks included a car suicide bombing, as witnesses told the Reuters news agency that they could hear ongoing clashes.
Large explosion rocks Egypt's Sheikh Zuweid in northern Sinai, as fighting between army and ISIL-affiliated group continues
Al Ahram news agencysaid that there had been no official death toll because ambulances had trouble reaching the injured and killed for fear of getting caught in the crossfire.
The power was cut in Sheikh Zuweid and residents were staying indoors, as the clashed continued, witnesses told Al Ahram.
Sources has told Bloom Gist that a local mortuary in Egytp's El-Arish has received at least 35 bodies as clashed continues.
Egyptian air force has deployed fighter jets as battle continues with ISIL-affiliated group in North Sinai
Coordinated attacks
An Egyptian journalist and blogger, Wael Abbas, has said that the attack was highly "coordinated" and that there were reports that the fighters had put mines on the roads to prevent more Egyptian military vehicles from accessing the area.
Wael said some ISIL supporters had tweeted that they were going "to eradicate the military's presence in Sinai" before the attacks.
"It seems that the Islamists just like in Iraq and Syria want Sinai to go to the Islamic State [ISIL]," Abbas said.
An eye witness told Al Ahram that the power was cut in Sheikh Zuweid and residents were staying indoors, as the clashes continued.
Police stations in the towns of Sheikh Zuweid and El-Arish were among the targets of the attacks, witnesses said.
