Three Israeli soldiers shot dead on Egyptian border

Three Israeli soldiers have been shot dead by an Egyptian security officer, Israeli and Egyptian officials said on Saturday, in the worst incident at the countries’ border in more than a decade.

Egypt was the first Arab country to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in 1979, and the border has been relatively calm since a series of terrorist attacks in 2011 and 2012, although Israeli forces regularly operate in the area to thwart smugglers. Does

According to the Israeli military, Saturday’s fighting began when an Egyptian policeman shot dead two Israeli soldiers at a military post on the border in the Negev desert at around 6.30 a.m. local time. Their bodies were found after a senior officer failed to respond to radio communications.

The army said Israeli forces searched the area and found the attacker in Israeli territory around noon. A shootout ensued, in which a third Israeli soldier and the assailant were killed. Another Israeli soldier was injured.

The Egyptian army said one of its border guards entered Israel while chasing drug traffickers, and three Israeli soldiers and an Egyptian border guard were killed in a subsequent exchange of fire. The army has expressed condolences to the families of those killed.

Israel said the incident was being investigated “in full cooperation with the Egyptian military” and that further searches were underway to “rule out the presence of any additional attackers”.

Israel’s military said, “We did not have an intelligence alert on the incident.”

“The cooperation with the Egyptians continues, it’s good. We’re talking to them all the time. It’s not geopolitical.”

The incident comes at a time when tensions have risen along Israel’s borders. Last month, its forces engaged in a five-day exchange of fire with Palestinian militants in Gaza. In April, it was involved in brief cross-border exchanges with militants in Gaza, South Lebanon and Syria.

Israel’s military said it was possible that the first shooting on Saturday – during which a male and a female Israeli soldier were killed – could be linked to a failed attempt to smuggle drugs into Israel earlier that morning.

The attempt was foiled at around 2.30 a.m. local time – nearly four hours before the first shots were fired – and Israeli forces seized approximately 1.5 million shekels ($400,000) worth of drugs.

A decade ago, Israel built a fence along its border with Egypt to prevent the arrival of migrants from Africa, as well as to prevent infiltration by Isis militants operating in Egypt’s restive Sinai province.

The Israeli army said it was still trying to establish how the attacker crossed the border fence.