Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israel’s military has established a regional brigade along the
border with Egypt  amid threats
from the Sinai Peninsula.

The military said Southern Command has established the Eilat Brigade, assigned to operate along the 202-kilometer border with Egypt. Eilat Brigade was meant to increase military command and control over the large desert frontier between the Gaza Strip and Israel’s southern port.

“The distances here are so great that there was a problem controlling forces and commanders sometimes had difficulty reaching events quickly,” brigade commander Lt. Col. Tal Carmel said.

The brigade was formed after the August attack on southern Israel
from Sinai. At least eight Israelis were killed when a squad of up to 30 Egyptians conducted an ambush as well as suicide attacks on military and civilian vehicles north or Eilat.

“The establishment of the new Eilat Brigade was necessitated by tensions that arose in the area following the revolution in Egypt and the deadly terror attack on the border in August in which eight Israelis were killed,” the military said on Nov. 28. “The brigade will operate in Eilat and the surrounding region.”

Officials said the military has taken other steps to enhance security along the Egyptian border. They said the Army was forming infantry units of soldiers trained in desert combat.

“The establishment of the brigade is one of a number of steps taken
recently by the Israel Defense Forces to improve security in the south,” the
military said.

  Gaza Strip, Israel Defense Forces, Israel’s forms new brigade for deployment to Egyptian border, Lt. Col. Tal Carmel, Sinai Peninsula