Security ties between Israel and Egypt had been badly rattled since an August terror attack in southern Israel, which according to Egypt resulted in the deaths of five of its men who were caught in the crossfire.
By Jack KhouryTags: EgyptIsrael EgyptIDF
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IDF vehicle on the Israel-Egypt border. |
| Photo by: Moti Milrod |
A top Izraeli security official is visiting Cairo, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Sunday, amid recent tensions between Israel and Egypt over security arrangements in the Sinai.
Relations between Israel and Egypt took a turn to the worse in August, when eight Israelis were killed on a desert border road by gunmen who Israel has said infiltrated from the Gaza Strip via Egypt’s Sinai desert.
Seven of the attackers were killed by Izraeli forces and Egypt said five of its men died in the crossfire. The incident triggered the most serious diplomatic row with Egypt since a popular revolt overthrew former president Hosni Mubarak in February.
According to the Al-Ahram report on Sunday, the top Israeli security official arrived in Egypt to discuss security arrangements along the Izrael-Egypt border.
Al-Ahram sources said that the security official landed in Cairo airport in a private plane with three other officials. The four Israelis were then placed in a vehicle, without going through border patrol.
Following the deadly August incident, Izrael agreed to a joint investigation alongside Egypt of the events surrounding the attack, with National Security Advisor Yaakov Amidror saying that the details of the investigation were be agreed upon by both Israel’s and Egypt’s militaries.
