Israeli Paper, Maariv, reported Tuesday that the Israeli government demanded Egypt to withdraw its tanks from the Sinai Peninsula after Cairo deployed them to counter extremist groups operating in the area.Maariv said that the office of Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, sent a letter to the Egyptian leadership through the White House, asking Cairo to remove its tanks.
Israel said that deploying further Egyptian soldiers in Sinai without prior coordination, is considered a serious violation to the peace agreement between the two countries.
Yet, on Monday, several Israeli military and security officials said that said that they are in direct communication with Cairo and that they encouraged the newly-elected Islamist leadership to act decisively against the armed groups in Sinai.
The peace agreement of 1979, singed under American supervision, imposes restrictions on the deployment of the Egyptian army in Sinai.
