Ehud Barak has called for "determined Egyptian action" following an incident in which more than a dozen Egyptian border guards were killed by terrorists on the border between Egypt and Israel.

On Sunday evening terrorists killed 16 men, then seized their vehicles in an attempt to infiltrate the border with Israel. According to the Israeli military the terrorists were planning to kidnap an Israeli soldier, and were armed with explosives, grenades and machine guns.

Israeli troops were warned by intelligence of a possible attack and targeted the terrorists with an airstrike.

It was one of the bloodiest attacks on the Egyptian border in years, and led the new Egyptian president to accuse the terrorists of "treason". Mohammed Morsi also said the attackers would "pay dearly" for what happened.

Mr Barak, Israeli Defence Minister, said: "We hope this will be a fitting wakeup call for the Egyptians to take things in hand on their side more forcefully."