Egyptian security forces uncovered a munitions stockpile, including anti-aircraft missiles, destined for Gaza, the Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, the weapons stockpile was found in an abandoned warehouse in the middle of the desert in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
Violence along the Israel-Gaza border has increased as of late, with Israel targeting smuggling tunnels in response to increased rocket fire from militants in the strip.
Israel fired missiles at three suspected smuggling tunnels on the border between Gaza and Egypt on Friday.
Israel said the tunnels are used for smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip for attacks against Israeli targets. The Palestinians said the tunnels are used to smuggle goods in defiance of the now three-year long Israeli blockade against Gaza, which is controlled by the Islamic Hamas movement.
This is not the first time that anti-aircraft missiles and other munitions destined to be smuggled into Gaza have been seized by Egyptian forces.
In September, Israeli and Palestinian news reported that Egyptian troops recovered machine guns, ammunition, over 170 anti-aircraft shells, 90 artillery shells and anti-tank landmines in a series of raids across the Sinai Peninsula.
In August, Egyptian police raided three arms depots in Sinai containing nearly 200 surface-to-air missiles apparently headed for Gaza.
Israeli sources confirmed the report and said a considerable number of similar armaments had probably already been transported through Sinai to Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Islamist militant groups.On Saturday, Hamas' armed wing held a press conference reiterating their intentions to continue their resistance against Israel.
Ahmed al-Jabari, the leader of the Izz a-din al-Qassam Brigades, said that Israel had two options – to leave Palestinian territories or face death.