The IDF on Monday deployed two warships in the Red Sea near the border with Egypt following warnings terrorists are planning another attack on southern Israel from Egyptian soil.
Also on Monday, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz ordered increased deployments across the entire southern command, especially near the Israel-Egypt border, increased.
The move, ostensibly due to increased terror warnings, comes concurrent to Israel's agreement to allow Egypt to deploy 1,500 more troops in areas B and C of the Sinai in order to conduct counter-terror operations on the Peninsula. Area A is the sector adjoining the Israeli-Egyptian border.
Israel's south, especially near the border, has been flooded with military forces, deployed in a manner defined by one security source as "unprecedented."
No changes in security alignments were observed on the Egyptian side of the border, but Egyptian security sources did say counter-terror raids were being staged in honor of Eid al-Fatr - the end of Ramadan - due to fears of increased holiday violence.
The IDF has also deployed advanced technology in the area - including UAVs - in order to thwart terror attacks. Military intelligence sources said earlier Tuesday a terror cell left Gaza intending to infiltrate Israel through Sinai.
The security situation in southern Israel has been particularly tense over the past few weeks, following a series of terror attacks that claimed the lives of eight Israelis in mid-August; as well as several days in which Israel's south and western Negev communities suffered heavy shelling by Gaza Strip-based terror groups.
In a provocative move certain to ratchet-up regional tensions, Iranian naval commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari told the state-run agency the Islamic Republic is planning to send its 15th fleet to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The Islamic Republic's 15th fleet is comprised of a submarine and a several warships.
Sayyari noted that Iran's Navy plans to have "an active presence in the high seas in line with the guidelines of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei with the purpose of serving the country's interests."
“The presence of Iran's army in the high seas will convey the message of peace and friendship to all countries,” he said.