Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — For the first time, Israel has acknowledged that Egypt’s
military was conducting unauthorized flights in the Jewish state.

Officials said the Israel Air Force has detected flights by Egyptian
military aircraft in Israel. They said helicopters and unmanned aerial
vehicles were allowed by Israel to operate in Egypt’s eastern Sinai
Peninsula since mid-2011.

The latest Egyptian overflight took place on Oct. 30. Officials said an
Egyptian Air Force helicopter flew into Israel and ignored warnings to turn
back. In all, the official said, the Egyptian helicopter, identified as the
Russian-origin Mi-8, remained in Israeli air space for at least 25 minutes.

“There were those in the military that warned that this would be the
result of changing the demilitarization clause of the [Egyptian-Israeli]
peace treaty,” an official said.

This marked the first reported Egyptian helicopter overflight into
Israel. Officials said the helicopter was flying at low speed and only
turned back into Egypt when an F-16 multi-role fighter opened fire.

“A complaint has been filed with Egypt,” the official said.

Officials said the new Egyptian military presence in eastern Sinai has
not blocked the massive arms flow from Libya to the Gaza Strip. They said
Egyptian soldiers have ignored the smuggling of missiles, rockets and other
military equipment to the Hamas regime as well as Palestinian militias.

Israel’s military detected previous Egyptian overflights inside the
Jewish state. Officials said those flights were of UAVs believed to have
conducted reconnaissance of Israel’s Negev desert, particularly the area of
the Dimona nuclear plant.

  Dimona nuclear plant, drones caught entering Israeli air space, Egyptian helicopters, Gaza Strip, Negev desert, Russian-origin Mi-8 helicopter, Sinai Peninsula