One week after a cross-border terrorist attack against southern Israel left at least seven dead and dozens wounded, the Israeli government has agreed to allow Egypt to send a massive influx of additional troops into the Sinai Peninsula.
The move, reportedly agreed to by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, would allow thousands of additional troops as well as more helicopters and armored vehicles. No additional tanks would be allowed in the region.
The 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt severely restricts the amount of troops Egypt is allowed to bring into Sinai, limiting it only to a small, lightly armed border patrol. Increasingly, though, the Egyptian regime has lost control of the peninsula, and officials see a major military action in the region as the simplest way to reclaim it.
Its possible impact on last week’s terror attack in Israel was likely limited, however, as Israeli officials maintain that the attackers actually snuck into Egypt by way of the Gaza Strip, before attacking Israel.
