JERUSALEM

Israel has announced that it reduced the level of terror threat in the Sinai beach resorts, including the city of Sharm el-Sheikh and Taba in southern Sinai, for the first time in 17 years.

The decision was announced on Wednesday in an Israeli National Security Council (NSC) statement that said the terror threat level is lowered from Level 1 to 3, as quoted by local media.

The NSC said the topic was discussed in a meeting between Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel in Tel Aviv.

Israel's Ambassador to Cairo Amira Oron hailed the decision, saying it "will contribute to developing and strengthening relations between the two countries in general and in the field of tourism in particular."

The Israeli Walla news website said it is the first time for Israel to lower the terror threat level in the Sinai resorts over the past 17 years.

In October 2004, two resorts in the Taba town of southern Sinai witnessed terrorist blasts, killing at least 34 people, with most of them Israelis.

In March, Israel reopened the Taba border crossing with Egypt after a one-year closure due to the coronavirus outbreak.

In 2019, around half a million Israelis passed through the Taba border crossing into the Sinai resorts -- a 30% increase in comparison to 2018 -- and only 34,000 in 2020 due to the virus, according to Israel's daily Haaretz.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara.