Israeli navy will host the American sailors, and has planned organized tours throughout the country.

Travel agency in East Jerusalem apparently lied to tourists about having proper documentation to enter Israel and passed them off as employees of a large Israeli company; Eilat police held the tourists in their hotels until they were escorted back to the West Bank.

Moshe Ya'alon says the Gaza militant killed by the Israel Air Force on Tuesday was involved in the rocket attack on Eilat two weeks ago, adds that Israel has the right to defense itself against terrorism.

Cell had both Egyptian and Palestinian members, says Egypt's Akbar al-Yom; Netanyahu vows retaliation for rockets fired at Eilat.

Israel expects Egyptian security forces to prevent such rocket attacks in the future and to guarantee quiet on the two nations’ shared border.

The Iron Dome battery did not intercept the rockets likely due to Eilat's complex geography - a relatively small strip of coast between Egypt and Jordan.

Hardline militant group Magles Shoura al-Mujahddin said the attack was in retaliation for the Israeli army's attack on protesters demonstrating over the death of a Palestinian prisoner.

The Iron Dome missile defense system in the city tracked the rockets but did not operate to shoot them down, the IDF said.

Environmentalists in Israeli say railroad will cause huge damage to the landscape and ecology of the Negev, from Dimona to the northern Arava.

As National Roads Company puts final touches on a plan to install a double-track cargo and passenger railway that will link Eilat with central Israel, the Nature and Parks Authority warns the plan could cause billions of shekels in damage.