Israel and Egypt are expected to reach an agreement on Egyptian troop deployment along the Philadelphi route south of Gaza within 10 days, Army Radio reported Monday citing Israeli officials.

The comment was made following a meeting between Maj. Gen. Amos Gilad, head of the Israeli Defense Ministry's political bureau and head of Egyptian Intelligence Gen. Omar Suleiman Sunday night in Cairo.

The two sides discussed placing 750 Egyptian troops along the border to clamp down on the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip and other contraband, the report said.

The Philadelphi route is a roughly 14-km strip running along the Egypt-Gaza border. Whether Israeli troops will remain along the corridor following disengagement has been a major point of contention.

The Israelis are very much concerned with the security of the border area, fearing their withdrawal from Gaza under the disengagement would lead to a loss of control over the area.

The agreement on the Philadelphi route, when reached, will be signed by senior-ranking officers.

However, chairman of the Defense and Foreign Affairs committee in the Knesset (parliament), Yuval Steinitz, voiced his severe opposition to Egyptian deployment along the route in an interview with Army Radio.

"If Israel signs this agreement, then within two to three years, the Egyptian army will amass additional forces on the edge of the Negev, and we will return to the dangerous situation which prevailed prior to the Six Days War," Steinitz warned.

"With the Egyptians, one must act according to the rule: respect him, but suspect him," he told Army Radio.

Steinitz argued that the deployment would be in violation of the Israeli-Egyptian peace accord and must be approved by the Knesset before it is implemented.

But his opinion was rejected by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who said the move would not constitute a reopening of the Israel-Egypt peace accord.

After a meeting with Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres in the Red Sea resort Sharm e-Sheikh some two weeks ago, Egyptian President Mubarak said the Egyptians were prepared to send forces from the beginning of July.

Egypt could provide troops within one to three days of an agreement being reached, Mubarak declared.

Source: Xinhua