Egypt sentences two Israelis, Ukrainian to life for smuggling

An Egyptian court has sentenced two Israelis and one Ukrainian to life in prison for smuggling arms.

The sentence came on Monday, as the three were charged with smuggling weapons across the Egyptian border.

One of the Israelis and the Ukrainian are currently in Egyptian custody, while the third defendant was tried in absentia.

According to a statement by the Egyptian court, the Ukrainian, who is a manager of a tourism company in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, had ordered the weapons from one of the Israelis.

After authorities discovered the supplies in their crate, the Israelis denied knowledge of its contents, while the Ukrainian claimed they had been ordered for personal protection.

As a result of souring ties between Egypt and Israel, attacks against Egyptian pipelines supplying natural gas to Israel have increased.

The issue of supplying gas to Israel has always been a controversial topic for Egyptians, who view Israel as an enemy and oppose engaging in any form of business with it.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Tel Aviv in 1979, but the situation has drastically changed since the Egyptian revolution toppled long time dictator Hosni Mubarak.

A number of Egyptian political parties are now calling for changes to the US-sponsored peace treaty as Israeli-Egyptian ties have suffered major setbacks in recent months.