Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak says he hopes a deadly attack on Egyptian border guards Sunday near the Gaza Strip and Israel will serve as a “wakeup call” for Egypt to enhance its security in the Sinai peninsula.

Gunmen killed 16 border guards then tried to cross the Israeli border in two stolen vehicles. The Israeli military said one vehicle exploded and the second crossed the border before being destroyed by an Israeli air strike.

Barak told a parliamentary committee Monday that Israeli forces killed eight militants.

Israel's chief military spokesman said it had intelligence reports that helped it thwart the assault.

Egypt closed its Rafah border crossing with Gaza in response to the attack, which Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi called “cowardly.”

Sinai has become increasingly lawless since the ouster of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak last year. Militants in Sinai have targeted Egyptian security forces, blown up pipelines supplying gas to Israel and Jordan and killed Israelis in cross-border attacks.