Israel warns of 'imminent' threat in Egypt's Sinai

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Monday about the possibility of strengthening terror organizations in the Sinai on account of recent opening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, local every day Ha'aretz reported.

Speaking at a conference of the Knesset (Israel's parliament) Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday, Netanyahu said that the new Egyptian government was having a "hard time" to control the international terror organizations in the Sinai Peninsula, which are "growing and stirring" due to its closeness to Gaza.

The prime minister pointed out the significance of keeping Egypt along with the Sinai region no cost of militants right after recent opening of the Gaza-Egypt crossing.

"Egypt has had difficulties exercising its sovereignty over Sinai," Netanyahu stated, "and we saw this inside the two gas pipe explosions that occurred there."

The natural gas flow from Egypt to Israel has been disrupted until now, soon after the pipes were hit by two bombing attacks this year.

Netanyahu's remarks came right after a report by an Egyptian television station, stating that a minimum of 400 al-Qaida members have crossed into the Sinai Peninsula.

"We are concerned about what occurs around us, particularly in Egypt and Jordan," he was quoted by Ha'aretz as saying.

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