The Israeli Defense Minister visited the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain as part of an unannounced visit amid escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf following missile and drone attacks on the United Arab Emirates, Reuters reported.

Israel's Defense Ministry said Benny Gantz will sign a security cooperation agreement with Bahrain, which along with the UAE normalized relations with Israel in 2020.

"Against a backdrop of increasing maritime and aerial threats, our ironclad cooperation is more important than ever," Gantz said on Twitter after the naval base visit.

Israel is joining a US-led naval exercise in the Middle East this week involving 60 countries along with the UAE and Bahrain and, for the first time, along with Saudi Arabia and Oman, two countries with which it has no diplomatic relations.

The Israeli Defense Ministry did not give details on what the security agreement with Bahrain would include.