Report: Israel Will Allow Egyptian Troops in Sinai
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel will soon allow Egypt to deploy thousands of troops in the Sinai Peninsula, the Economist reported on Friday.
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According to the report, Israel will allow helicopters and armored vehicles into Sinai, but will forbid the entrance of tanks.
Haaretz reported earlier Friday that Barak said he would agree to send thousands more Egyptian soldiers into eastern Sinai in order to end the anarchy there, saying it would be “a clear Israeli interest” since it would stop smuggling of weapons and people from Gaza.
The move comes after the series of terror attacks in southern Israel on August 18, which left eight people dead. Israel and Egypt believe the gunmen responsible for the attacks were militants that infiltrated from the Gaza Strip via Egypt’s neighboring Sinai desert.
Officials also suspect that militants from Sinai had also joined the Gaza gunmen in carrying out the attacks on Israelis.
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