Photo Credit: Matanya Tausig / Flash 90
View of the Israeli-Egyptian border next to the southern city of Eilat. The Israeli parliament voted in 2010 to build a fence along Israel's border with Egypt to prevent the infiltration of terrorists, smugglers and illegal inmigrants from Africa.

Egyptian security forces opened fire Tuesday morning and killed two cross-border smugglers who apparently tried to bring “illegal goods” into Israel, security sources said.

According to Channel 10, which quoted an IDF source, bags of illegal drugs were found near the scene where smugglers crossing the border from Egypt were met by a second set of smugglers on the Israeli side.

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It is not clear which smugglers were hit by the Egyptian gunfire, nor have the identities of any of the smugglers been made clear.

IDF soldiers reportedly fired warning shots after hearing the gunfire near the border town of Nitzana, and are investigating reports of smugglers being wounded in the shootout with Egyptian security personnel.

IDF soldiers have also recovered the bodies of the two dead smugglers. An investigation into the incident is underway.

Despite numerous efforts to plug the holes in the Israel’s long Sinai border with Egypt, incidents like this are not uncommon.

Of more concern to the security establishments in both nations are the efforts of regional terrorist proxies for Iran and now Daesh (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) to move weapons, ammunition, money and operatives themselves) across the border as well.


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Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press and senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org and other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.