Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak during talks with President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday voiced rare praise for Egypt's efforts to stem weapons smuggling into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Barak hailed Egyptian efforts along the porous border which "have visibly been effective," said a statement from the Israeli Defense Ministry after the talks at one of Mubarak's palaces in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.

But Barak also said that "more effort should be put in order to further reduce" weapons smuggling into Gaza which has been effectively sealed off by Israel since Hamas took control of the territory in June 2007.

Israel has in the past repeatedly accused Egypt of not doing enough to combat the tunnels used to smuggle food, fuel, weapons and cigarettes into the impoverished territory.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Gheit, who attended the talks, said Mubarak had asked for "more cooperation in improving the [humanitarian] situation especially as the holy month of Ramadan approaches, an important event for Muslims," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In June, an Egyptian-brokered truce brought a virtual halt to fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants and rocket attacks from Gaza into southern Israel.

Hamas had said the truce would lead to the lifting of the siege, which Israel has in turn linked to progress on the release of Gilad Shalit, a soldier captured in a cross-border raid by Gaza militants in 2006.