Egypt's army vowed Monday to "avenge" the killing of 16 troops by gunmen near the Israeli border, as President Mohammed Morsi ordered security forces to take full control of the Sinai Peninsula.

In Sunday's attack, 35 gunmen in Bedouin clothing opened fire on the troops before crossing into the Jewish state in an armored vehicle, Egyptian officials said. Israel said five gunmen were killed on its side.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday expressed regret over the deaths of 16 Egyptian guards in an attack on Sunday by gunmen on the border with Israel, his office said in a statement.

It said that he was speaking during a visit with Defense Minister Ehud Barak to the site where five attackers crashed across the frontier in an armored vehicle into the Jewish state, where they were killed by Israeli forces.

Five gunmen who slew 16 Egyptian guards near the border with Israel before crossing into the Jewish state in an armored vehicle have been killed, an army spokesman said Monday.

"The bodies of the five gunmen have been found by the Israeli army," said the spokesman a day after the incident but did not give details.

Gunmen in two armored vehicles crossed into Israel from Egypt near the Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday after hijacking the vehicles from an Egyptian outpost where they had killed at least 13 troops, the Israeli military said.

One vehicle exploded by itself while the other was destroyed from the air, the Israeli military added.

Egypt's foreign ministry Saturday denounced attacks against Myanmar's Muslim minority, saying its envoy in the Buddhist-majority East Asian country had seen extensive damage caused by sectarian clashes.

The ministry statement came a day after protesters in Cairo burnt the flag of Myanmar's mission.

A senior Egyptian Coptic bishop said on Friday attacks on Christians are on the rise and criticized the inclusion of only one Copt in Islamist President Mohammed Morsi's government.

"The general climate is turning against Christians," said Bishop Morcos. "Assaults on Christians have increased. It's not just a matter of having one ministry," he told Agence France Presse.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi swore in a new cabinet on Thursday that retained military chief Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi as defense minister while giving the Islamists and their allies several portfolios.

The cabinet, which took office more than a month after Islamist Morsi, reflects a precarious balance of power between the president and the military, which retains broad powers after transferring control to him.

Israel on Thursday urged its citizens traveling in Egypt's Sinai peninsula to return immediately amid warnings of an attack.

The travel warning was based on information alleging militant groups from the Gaza Strip are operating in the area and plan to attack or kidnap Israeli tourists.

A judge in Egypt investigating corruption charges against former Premier Ahmed Shafiq on Thursday ordered Hosni Mubarak's two sons detained for allegedly buying land from Shafiq at below market price, state media reported.

Alaa and Gamal Mubarak are already in detention on other corruption-related charges.

Egypt's military chief, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, will remain as defense minister, a post he held under ex-president Hosni Mubarak, in the new cabinet announced on Thursday, said Prime Minister Hisham Qandil.

Tantawi ruled the country after Mubarak's ouster early last year, before handing power to Islamist President Mohammed Morsi following his election in June.