Israel Defence Forces
Three IDF personnel were killed on the border with Egypt early last weekend in one of the deadliest attacks to have occurred on Israel’s Egypt border since the 2000’s.
The terrorist attack was carried out by a member of the Egyptian border police at an IDF post near Mount Harif in the Negev. The assailant, Mohammed Salah Ibrahim, 22, entered Israeli territory through an emergency crossing, proceeding to shoot and kill Sgt Lia Ben-Nun, 19 and Staff Sgt Ohad Dahan, 20. Another Israeli, 19-year old Staff Sgt Ori Yitzhak Iluz, was killed in the ensuing tracking operation, and a fourth Israeli soldier sustained minor injuries. The attacker was killed by IDF forces after being found in Israeli territory, an IDF statement on Sunday has reported. Israeli reports have found that Ibrahim had been carrying six rifle magazines, two combat knives and a Quran during the attack.
The emergency border crossing, which is reserved for operations involving drug smuggling and terrorism, represents a chink in the 140-mile Sinai border which was constructed in 2013 to reduce terrorist attacks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that a revision of the procedures, methods and measures related to drug smuggling and terrorism will ensure that similar incidents are not repeated.
Egypt has claimed that the attacker had been chasing drug smugglers across the border prior to an exchange of fire. Mr Netanyahu has rejected the statement in light of intelligence revealing that Ibrahim waited undetected for several hours before the shooting. The Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi expressed his condolences in a phone call with the Israeli Prime Minister on Tuesday, who has since ordered an investigation “in full cooperation with the Egyptian army”. Egyptian and Israeli defence ministers have gathered to discuss further, following Mr Netanyahu’s demand for a joint and thorough examination.
