JERUSALEM — Israeli officials said Cairo has ignored numerous appeals to stop overflights by Egyptian aircraft into Israel's air space.

The officials said the Egyptian intrusions were raising tension within the Israel Air Force due to concerns one of intruding aircraft could be a suicide plane filled with explosives.

"We tried to talk to them once or twice and nothing has changed," an official said. "These aircraft are entering our air space on an increasingly frequent basis."

Officials said most of the Egyptian air traffic that entered Israeli air space were passenger jets from Cairo to Amman, Middle East Newsline reported. They said the Egyptian aircraft entered Israeli air space near the southern port city of Eilat.

Over the last three years, the Israel Air Force has trained to intercept or shoot down unidentified planes that enter Israeli air space. Officials cited an Al Qaida plot — said to have been nixed by Osama Bin Laden — to commandeer a Saudi warplane and crash into an Israeli city.

The air force has deployed improved Hawk MIM-23B surface-to-air missile batteries in the Eilat area. The air force has also bolstered surveillance of Egypt and Saudi Arabia and placed aircraft on alert for interception missions.