WASHINGTON: The United States pressed Egypt Thursday to follow through on promises to ensure security in the Sinai following a string of attacks in southern Israel said to have been staged from the desert region.
The White House denounced the attacks, which left seven Israelis dead, and expressed hope those responsible "will be brought to justice swiftly."
"We condemn the brutal terrorist attacks in southern Israel today in the strongest terms," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.
"Our deepest condolences go to the victims, their families and loved ones, and we wish those injured a speedy recovery. The US and Israel stand united against terror and we hope that those behind this attack will be brought to justice swiftly," he said.
An Israeli army commander said six Israeli civilians and a soldier were killed in the spate of coordinated attacks on two desert roads near the Red Sea resort town of Eilat.
Security sources said the Israeli army shot dead seven of the attackers, described as militants from Gaza who entered Israel through the Sinai. The ruling Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas denied any involvement.
Israel warned it would hit back hard, and then hit the Gaza Strip with air strikes that Palestinian medics said killed six people.
"This violence only underscores our strong concerns about the security situation in the Sinai Peninsula," US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said in a statement.
"Recent commitments by the Egyptian government to address the security situation in the Sinai are important and we urge the Egyptian government to find a lasting resolution," the chief US diplomat said.
Israeli officials have said the perpetrators all came from the Gaza Strip, and a senior source said they had entered Israel via the Sinai peninsula where Egyptian troops recently began a massive operation to root out militants based there.
Earlier, the Israeli army said two attacks had taken place on route 12, a desert road next to the Egyptian border, near Eilat.
In the first incident, gunmen strafed a bus. In the second, an improvised explosive device detonated when a military vehicle carrying Israeli troops drove over it.
Security sources told AFP of a third incident on another desert road near the Jordanian border, in which an RPG was fired at a car near Beer Ora, some 15 kilometers (nine miles) north of Eilat.
Medics said all seven victims died in that attack, at least four of whom were travelling in the same car, with reports also suggesting there was mortar fire in the same area.
The violence comes as the United States struggles to revive Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations that broke up three weeks after Washington launched them in September of last year.
Palestinians refused to resume talks after Israel’s right-wing government refused to renew a partial halt to Jewish settlements in the West Bank, land on which the Palestinians want to build a future state.
