Israel's PM Netanyahu and Egypt's al

In their first phone conversation since the beginning of the year, the two leaders stressed the 'importance of coordination between the countries'

Israeli Prime Minister and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi spoke on the phone Tuesday morning, and discussed the recent border incident in which an Egyptian officer killed three Israeli soldiers, Egypt's presidency said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the spokesman of the Egyptian President, Ahmed Fahmy, al-Sissi and Netanyahu both emphasized the "importance of coordination between the countries and the shared efforts to reach peace and maintain regional stability."

In a statement, Netanyahu's office said al-Sisi expressed "deep condolences" over the incident, and that Netanyahu thanked him for his "commitment towards a full, joint investigation."

This marks the two's first conversation since the beginning of the year, when Al-Sisi congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after forming the government. The Egyptian president was among the few prominent leaders, alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, who did not rush to call Netanyahu on his election victory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday that his government "sent a clear message" to Egypt following the killing of three soldiers by an Egyptian police officer on the Israeli-Egyptian border on Saturday.

Netanyahu further said he expects a thorough investigation by both countries, and that "we will draw a conclusion about our activities on the Israeli-Egyptian border." The prime minister added that "we intend to refresh the accepted practices and the way we operate, as well as the means with which we can minimize the [drug] smuggling and ensure that terror attacks like this won't occur."

The Egyptian policeman who killed three Israeli soldiers was named on Monday as 23-year-old Muhammad Salah from Cairo, Egyptian news outlets reported.

According to the reports, Salah recently expressed sympathy with the Palestinians and had become more religious. His friends said that he was an introvert who suffered from mental difficulties and was scheduled to be released from military service in a few weeks.

Local security forces reportedly raided the Salah's home on Tuesday and detained several members of his family for questioning. His computer and some other equipment were confiscated, and Egyptian sources told Haaretz that an investigation was still ongoing into whether he acted alone, or if other members of his unit were aware of his intentions.

Officials from the Israel Defense Forces said on Monday that the combat helicopters had been grounded following a safety-related technical problem, but the commander of the Air Force, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, gave his approval for the dispatch of the helicopters for operational purposes after the two soldiers' bodies were found. The senior command only ordered the helicopters dispatched after the Egyptian policeman had already been spotted.

A preliminary IDF probe suggested that the Egyptian officer entered Israel from an emergency passage in the border fence which was closed by cable tie, a few hundred meters away from the guard post. It was not clear whether the soldiers Ori Yitzhak Illouz and Lia Ben Nun, who were killed in the incident, were aware of the existence of this passage.