Two Israeli soldiers were killed in a rare shooting along the Egyptian border, triggering a manhunt in which a third soldier and the “assailant” were killed, the army said.
A fourth soldier, a non-commissioned officer, was slightly injured and evacuated to the hospital, it added. The military said a gunman was in Israeli territory when he opened fire on troops. The soldiers returned fire, killing the gunman.
The two soldiers, a man and a woman, “were killed by live fire near the border,” the army said. The shooting triggered a manhunt in the border area where a third soldier and the assailant were killed, the army later added.
“Just a moment, an [Israeli] soldier was killed during an exchange of fire with an assassin in Israeli territory,” it said.
“Soldiers close to the soldier shot and neutralized the assailant,” a statement said. A spokesman confirmed that the attacker had been killed. The army did not immediately release details of the killer’s identity or motive.
Egypt was the first Arab country to make peace with Israel after the Camp David accords of 1978, and the border is largely peaceful, although drug smugglers sometimes trade with Israeli troops.
Criminals sometimes smuggle drugs across the border, while Islamic militant groups are also active in Egypt’s restive northern Sinai.
Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979 and maintain close security ties. Fighting along their shared border is rare.
The exchange of fire reportedly took place around the Nitzana border crossing between Israel and Egypt. The crossing is located about 25 miles (40km) southeast of the point where Israel’s border with Egypt and the Gaza Strip converge. It is used to import goods from Egypt destined for Israel or the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Israel built a fence along the porous border a decade ago to prevent the entry of African migrants and Islamic militants active in Egypt’s Sinai desert.