Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday that he hoped Sunday's terrorist attack in Sinai would spur Egypt to take stronger action.
"Perhaps this will be necessary wake-up call for the Egyptians to take matters in their hands in a more serious way," Barak told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
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In an ambitious and sophisticated attack, global jihad terrorists infiltrated Israel on Sunday night after breaking into an Egyptian military base, killing 15 Egyptian soldiers and wounding seven.
Barak said that Israel's response was decisive, preventing a potentially worse attack, and that Israel was currently working with Egyptian authorities.
Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren charged Monday that Iran supported the terrorists responsible for carrying out a terrorist attack on Egyptian and Israeli targets.
"Iranian backed terrorists again struck at our Southern border today killing 15 Egyptian guards and attempting to massacre Israeli civilians," Oren wrote in a Twitter post. "Terrorists also shelled Israeli farms and towns along the border."
Oren added: "The thwarted attack underscores the length to which the extremist regime in Iran will attempt to kill innocent Israelis."
IDF sources said the attackers were probably Beduin residents of Sinai who were part of a larger global jihad terror cell based in the peninsula.
Hamas condemned the assault on Egyptian soldiers, calling it an "ugly crime" and adding the group's "deep condolences to the families of the victims and to the leadership and the people of Egypt."
Recapping the incident, Barak said that eight terrorist were killed in the attacks, up from the previously reported six.
Iran has been blamed for a number of deadly terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians around the world, the most recent of which occurred in Burgas, Bulgaria, and resulted in the deaths of seven. In response to that attack, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said: "All the signs lead to Iran. Only in the past few months we have seen Iranian attempts to attack Israelis in Thailand, India, Georgia, Kenya, Cyprus and other places."
Yaakov Katz and Reuters contributed to this report
"Perhaps this will be necessary wake-up call for the Egyptians to take matters in their hands in a more serious way," Barak told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
Related:
In an ambitious and sophisticated attack, global jihad terrorists infiltrated Israel on Sunday night after breaking into an Egyptian military base, killing 15 Egyptian soldiers and wounding seven.
Barak said that Israel's response was decisive, preventing a potentially worse attack, and that Israel was currently working with Egyptian authorities.
Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren charged Monday that Iran supported the terrorists responsible for carrying out a terrorist attack on Egyptian and Israeli targets.
"Iranian backed terrorists again struck at our Southern border today killing 15 Egyptian guards and attempting to massacre Israeli civilians," Oren wrote in a Twitter post. "Terrorists also shelled Israeli farms and towns along the border."
Oren added: "The thwarted attack underscores the length to which the extremist regime in Iran will attempt to kill innocent Israelis."
IDF sources said the attackers were probably Beduin residents of Sinai who were part of a larger global jihad terror cell based in the peninsula.
Hamas condemned the assault on Egyptian soldiers, calling it an "ugly crime" and adding the group's "deep condolences to the families of the victims and to the leadership and the people of Egypt."
Recapping the incident, Barak said that eight terrorist were killed in the attacks, up from the previously reported six.
Iran has been blamed for a number of deadly terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians around the world, the most recent of which occurred in Burgas, Bulgaria, and resulted in the deaths of seven. In response to that attack, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said: "All the signs lead to Iran. Only in the past few months we have seen Iranian attempts to attack Israelis in Thailand, India, Georgia, Kenya, Cyprus and other places."
Yaakov Katz and Reuters contributed to this report