File photo: Egyptian army tanks in North Sinai in 2012 (Photo: Reuters)
Egypt's army sent dozens of armoured vehicles and personnel carriers across the Suez Canal into North Sinai early on Monday, a security official has told Al-Ahram Arabic news website.
Major-General Ahmed Wasfy, commander of Egypt's Second Army (a regional sub-division of the country's armed forces) later arrived in Al-Arish city in northern Sinai with a delegation of military leaders.
The move comes as speculation grows that force could be used to rescue seven Egyptian soldiers kidnapped last week.
Seven Egyptian security personnel, a conscript of the armed forces and six police personnel, have been held by unidentified kidnappers in the Sinai Peninsula since Thursday.
It is the first time Egyptian security personnel have been abducted by Sinai-based militants.
On Sunday, President Morsi said "all options" remained open to secure the release of the kidnapped soldiers, stressing that Egypt would "not be blackmailed" by the captors.
A security source said the kidnappers have demanded the release of Islamist militants convicted of killing five security officers and one civilian during attacks in June/July 2011 on an Al-Arish city police station and a North Sinai branch of the Bank of Alexandria. Twenty-five individuals were charged in the case.
In a separate incident, unidentified gunmen stormed an Egyptian security base in the peninsula early on Monday and exchanged gunfire with forces inside the base before retreating, security sources told Reuters.
The gunmen attacked the base in the Al-Ahrash area in North Sinai from a truck and fired automatic weapons. The attack did not result in any casualties.
The restive Egypt-Gaza border region has witnessed an upswing in violence over the past few months, with frequent clashes between security forces and militants.
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