http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1100092.html
Last update - 16:56 14/07/2009
Israeli warships cross Suez Canal again
By Haaretz Service
Two Israel Navy warships made a rare crossing of Egypt's Suez Canal on
Tuesday, heading from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea in a voyage that could
be seen as a warning signal to Iran.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said that the crossings were
legitimate in accordance with an agreement between Cairo and Jerusalem.
One of the ships, the Hanit, had reportedly already crossed the canal
both ways in June, in what a port source called the first case of a large
Israeli warship using the strategic waterway. However, this was not possible to
confirm officially.
The other ship to cross on Tuesday, the Eilat, was named after a
destroyer sunk by Egypt with the loss of 47 lives shortly after the 1967 Six
Day War, the source told AFP.
Israeli defense officials said that two missile boats did cross the
canal, but they spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of
the matter.
During the maneuver in June, the Hanit accompanied an Israeli
Dolphin-class submarine for a drill off Eilat - the first such voyage for the
secret craft and a sign of Israel's growing strategic reach, Reuters quoted
defense sources as saying.
Witnesses told Reuters the vessel docked briefly at Eilat's naval base
before departing. But an Israeli defense official was quoted as saying there
would be no permanent deployment there of the German-made submarines - of which
Israel has three, with two more on order.
A senior Egyptian security official later denied reports that an Israeli
submarine had sailed the Suez Canal last month as part of a naval drill.
"Egypt does not allow Israeli warships to enter our territory," Army
Radio quoted the official as saying
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