Egyptian troops en route to Philadelphi

Hundreds of Egyptian troops arrived in the Sinai peninsula Wednesday to be deployed along the Philadelphi Route and Egyptian-Israeli border, to maintain order after Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip, an Egyptian intelligence official said.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as his position bars him from speaking publicly, did not say how many troops had arrived or when they would take up positions at the border.

Israel and Egypt have reached an agreement on deployment of 750 Egyptian police along the Gaza-Egypt border, allowing an Israeli withdrawal from the sensitive area and trying to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.

Israeli forces have often clashed there with Palestinian arms smugglers and have destroyed dozens of smuggler tunnels.