Israel given approval to deploy helicopter gunships

Israel has given Egypt it's approval to deploy helicopter gunships in the Sinai peninsula, where Islamic militants are active.

Israel's 14-member security cabinet had agreed to a temporary easing of the terms of a 1979 peace treaty which limits Egypt's military deployment in the region.

Yesterday the Egyptian army said that it had already deployed attack helicopters in raids that killed 20 militants in the territory.

That operation was launched after gunmen killed 16 Egyptian guards near the border on Sunday and tried to storm southern Israel.