The accusations were made despite a claim of responsibility by a group citing ties to al-Qaida, according to a statement posted on an Islamic Web site.

Similar charges have been made against Israel in the past, particularly after the suicide attack at the Taba Hilton Hotel in October 2004 and after the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington.

However, most Egyptian government officials refrained from accusing Israel, pointing out that extremist Muslim groups were most likely responsible for the attacks.

Shortly after the attacks, Egypt's state-run television interviewed retired army general Fuad Allam. He said that he was almost certain that Israel was behind the attacks at Sharm e-Sheikh and Taba.

According to Fuad, investigations have shown that the mastermind of the Taba attack was a Palestinian "apparently linked to Israel's security forces." He added: "I'm almost certain that Israel was also behind this attack because they want to undermine our government and deal a severe blow to our economy. The only ones who benefit from these attacks are the Israelis and the Americans."

Allam's remarks were reaired several times during

Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, the Arab world's leading satellite TV stations, also hosted a number of commentators who claimed that Israel was behind the latest wave of terror in Egypt.

Dia Rashwan, an expert on Islamic terror groups, said in a phone interview with Al-Arabiya from Cairo: "Israel is the only country that benefits from this."

Dismissing the theory that al-Qaida was behind the attacks, Rashwan explained: "We are giving al-Qaida more credit than it deserves. What happened here negates the possibility that the attacks were carried out by ordinary elements. This is the work of an extraordinary element – one that benefits from such attacks. All the available details indicate that only the Israelis could have done this."

Majdi Birnawi, another "security expert," told Al-Jazeera that "I believe that Mossad or some other [Israeli] security organization carried out this attack."

Birnawi said he believed Saturday's attacks were in response to the attack at the Taba Hilton, in which 12 Israelis were killed. "Everyone knows that there are no Israelis in Sharm e-Sheikh," he said. "There are only Western tourists there. That's why it's wrong to assume that the perpetrators were targeting Israelis."