Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to “thoroughly investigate” yesterday’s incident in which an Egyptian policeman infiltrated Israeli territory and killed three soldiers. “The fatal incident at the Egyptian border on Shabbat is serious and extraordinary. It will be thoroughly investigated,” said Netanyahu, who also congratulated the Israeli security forces for finding the attacker and killing him. “Our hearts go out to the families in their deepest grief,” the prime minister added.
Three Israeli soldiers wounded on the border with Egypt, the assailant killed: he is an Egyptian policeman
For his part, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke on the phone last night with his Egyptian counterpart, Mohamed Zaki, with whom he discussed cooperation in the investigation of this “serious attack” and both considered that it will be “of great importance for the ties between the two countries”. “The ministers concluded the discussion by expressing their commitment to maintain permanent communication and ensure cooperation between their respective institutions to prevent events of this kind in the future,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Yesterday morning, two Israeli soldiers, a man and a woman, were killed by an assailant, identified by the army as an Egyptian policeman, when he opened fire while they were securing a military post on the Egyptian border. More soldiers then arrived in the area to look for the attacker, when another shootout ensued, killing another Israeli soldier and the Egyptian policeman. The three dead Israeli soldiers belonged to the Bardelas battalion and were later identified as First Sergeant Ohad Dahan, 20; Sergeant Lia Ben Nun, 19; and Sergeant Ori Yitzhak Iluz, also 20 years old. The army is investigating how the Egyptian policeman managed to infiltrate Israeli territory undetected for several hours, and where he hid after the first shooting.