Israel and Egypt are working together to stop Hamas terrorists from "cynically using" the Sinai Peninsula to perpetrate terror attacks against Israel, a top IDF officer said on Thursday.

"We regularly coordinate with the Egyptians and synchronize our efforts to coordinate joint action against Hamas," Brig.-Gen Nadav Padan, commander of the IDF´s 80th Division said during a tour of the southern border on Thursday.

Padan´s briefing came ahead of the planned opening next week of Road 12, which has been closed since August when eight Israelis were killed in a coordinated terrorist assault along the border.

One of the noticeable changes since the attack is the rapid pace of construction along the 240-kilometer border, 100 kilometers of which are now closed by a newly built barrier.

In August, for example, there was barely any barbed wire along the section of the border used by the terrorists to cross into Israel.

In addition, the IDF plans to erect new fortified positions along the border to protect key strategic locations, such as the Netafim crossing, 12 km. north of Eilat. It is also investing large resources in intelligence gathering, to create a clearer understanding of terrorist groups that operate in Sinai.

The Egyptian military currently operates four battalions within the Sinai, which are mostly used to protect tourist sites as well as the gas line that runs through the peninsula. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has approved the insertion of two more battalions but the Egyptians have yet to act on the approval they received from Israel, which is required due to the peace treaty between the countries.

A senior IDF officer said that terrorist elements were moving freely throughout the Sinai and sometimes right under the nose of the Egyptian security forces. There is concern that additional attacks are currently in the works. The IDF does, however, have a weak intelligence grasp over the Sinai, which makes it difficult to learn of and prevent future attacks.

In 2011, over 16,000 African migrant workers illegally crossed into Israel via the border, the highest number since the mass immigration began about seven years ago. According to the IDF, the number has slightly dropped since the beginning of the year, leading the IDF to believe that the construction of the fence is effective in areas where construction has been completed. (© 1995-2011, The Jerusalem Post 02/23/12)