JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called the killing of three soldiers by an Egyptian border guard a terrorist attack and demanded a full joint investigation with Cairo.

"Israel relayed a clear message to the Egyptian government. We expect that the joint investigation will be exhaustive and thorough," Netanyahu told his cabinet in televised remarks about Saturday's incident.

"We will refresh procedures and methods of operations and also the measures to reduce to a minimum the smuggling and to ensure tragic terrorist attacks like this do not happen again."

(Reporting by Dan Williams and Ari Rabinovitch)