Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Israel Demands Egypt Help in Full Probe of Deadly Attack at Border
Error: Contact form not found.
by Reuters and Algemeiner Staff
Soldiers react near the site of a reported security incident near Israel’s southern border with Egypt, Israel June 3, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called the killing of three soldiers by a member of the Egyptian security services a terrorist attack and demanded a full joint investigation with Cairo.
Egypt says it is working with Israel to investigate the incident which occurred on Saturday.
“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.
“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.”
More details of the rare incident along the border emerged on Sunday. The frontier is usually peaceful, as the neighbors share close security cooperation, though there are frequent reports of drug smuggling, including one that took place prior to the deadly violence.
Israel’s military said that two of its soldiers were shot dead early on Saturday by an Egyptian security services member who crossed through the border fence. Their desert post was remote and it took a number of hours before their bodies were discovered.
“From that moment a terrorist event was declared, leading to sweeps of the area,” Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in an interview with Israel’s YNET news. “A drone was sent up and 1.5 kilometers inside Israel a suspicious person was identified.”
Soldiers then made contact and during an exchange of fire the Egyptian guard and a third Israeli soldier were killed.
On Saturday, the Egyptian military said the three Israelis and Egyptian guard had been killed in an exchange of fire as the guard chased smugglers across the frontier.
Two Egyptian sources said on Sunday that a team was examining the scene and the guard’s body to determine how events transpired. Coworkers and family members of the Egyptian guard have been interviewed to figure out if he belonged to any political groups or suffered from mental illness, they said.
Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel and they share a more than 200-km (124-mile) long border.
