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Palestinians flooding into Egypt after border wall was torn down by Hamas men last month. (AP)
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Last update - 00:00 26/02/2008
Officials: Egypt boosts border troops to double agreed number
By Reuters
Tags: Hamas, Ehud Barak, Egypt 

Egypt has discreetly boosted the number of troops deployed along the border with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, beyond those set in a 30-year-old peace accord with Israel, Israeli officials said Tuesday.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said reinforcements started arriving after Hamas Islamists in Gaza blasted open the Egyptian border at Rafah on Jan. 23 in defiance of an Israeli-led blockade of the coastal territory.

"We don't see the current levels as a threat at the moment," a senior Israeli official said of the increased Egyptian troop presence. "We have not objected to it. But no long-term arrangement has been made."
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Israeli officials estimated that up to 1,500 Egyptian border guards were now along the Gaza border, double the formally agreed-upon level.

An Israeli defense official said Israel was aware of the reinforcements, calling it part of a "tacit agreement" to reduce the risk of another attack on the border.

Last month's border breach allowed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to cross into Egypt's Sinai desert. Egypt closed the border 12 days later, but an agreement has yet to be reached on how the border will be managed in future.

On Tuesday, Military Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that terror activists trained in Syria and Iran had infiltrated the Gaza Strip from Egypt through the breached border.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry could not be immediately reached for comment.

But Egyptian security sources said only civilian police were being allowed into the border area to help with security as needed and that this was within the scope of the border agreement with Israel.

Egypt has sought formal Israeli approval to double the number of troops at the border to 1,500.

Israel's Foreign Ministry had suggested giving the nod to the Egyptian request but the Defense Ministry objected, arguing that it would require reopening the 1979 peace accord.

Under the peace agreement, the number of troops that can be deployed between the Egyptian Sinai and Gaza was limited to 750.

Yuval Steinitz, a senior member of the opposition Likud party and a former chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, called any increased Egyptian troop deployments "very serious".

Steinitz said he was aware of Egypt sending three battalions - roughly 600 to 900 soldiers - of reinforcements.

"This compromises the demilitarization of the Sinai," he said. "Today it's a few battalions. Tomorrow there might be far more."


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      1.   Well done Hermit, somewhat positive news.. 22:17  |  Stephen. 26/02/08
      2.   Mubarak is Israel`s bitch 22:33  |  Moise 26/02/08
      3.   For all antisemites here: Read sharia LAW 22:38  |  John the gentile 26/02/08
      4.   livni and egypt 22:41  |  geroge 26/02/08
      5.   for now, egypt poses no threat 23:04  |  Joey 26/02/08
      6.   Good Idea 23:11  |  Mark Lincoln 26/02/08
      7.   screw the stupid peace accord 23:57  |  Dror 26/02/08
      8.   Moranic 00:10  |  Paul 27/02/08
      9.   Raid the land! 00:14  |  Paul 27/02/08
      10.   Olmert the General 00:55  |  Gilad 27/02/08
      11.   Eguypt can stop another border breach without extra troops 01:18  |  Sabra 27/02/08
      12.   BIG MISTAKE 01:34  |  Joseph 27/02/08
      13.   What Profits Egypt by Enforcing Israel`s Blockade? 02:30  |  Reader 27/02/08
      14.   UN-patrolled DMZ a better solution 03:07  |  Morris Valentine 27/02/08
      15.   #12 Morris Valentine - UN DMZ - Bad Idea 03:31  |  * BEN JABO 27/02/08
      16.   #12 Why not an UN peacekeeper force in all of Gaza? 03:37  |  Johnboy 27/02/08
      17.   #11 Why does Egypt do it, Reader? 03:42  |  Johnboy 27/02/08
      18.   Morris...Why Would Egypt Need a DMZ With Gaza? 03:45  |  Reader 27/02/08
      19.   Is there any IDF supervision/observation? 06:07  |  Magnify 27/02/08
      20.   Egypt should not increase its presence in the Sinai. 09:12  |  Jean Van Daem 27/02/08
      21.   To all the complainers against this move 09:40  |  Dror 27/02/08
      22.   #16 Johnboy, I`ll tell you why not 15:29  |  * BEN JABO 27/02/08
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