Israel’s Environment Minister Amir Peretz told army radio on Tuesday he hoped “cooperation between Israeli and Egyptian security services will bear fruit and allow us to maintain calm in the region.”
Militants based mainly in north Sinai near Israel’s border have escalated attacks on Egyptian security forces and other targets since July 3, when the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and installed a new government in Cairo.
But the army has been reluctant to confront the militants inside towns in order not to provoke the tight knit tribes, military sources say.
The army said it had killed nearly 70 “terrorists” since Morsi’s ouster.
Eilat has been the target of attacks in the past.
In April, it was struck by rocket fire from the Sinai, and debris from a rocket that hit northern Eilat on July 4 was found days later.
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