Israel and Egypt have been at peace for over 40 years and have strong security cooperation. Fighting between the sides is extremely rare.
A gunbattle along Israel’s southern border with Egypt left three Israeli soldiers and an Egyptian officer dead Saturday, officials said. It was a rare instance of deadly violence along the frontier.
Israel said the Egyptian border guard crossed into Israel and killed the three soldiers before he was fatally shot by troops. Egypt said he had been chasing drug smugglers when he entered Israel.
Israel and Egypt have been at peace for over 40 years and have strong security cooperation. Fighting between the sides is extremely rare.
Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli army spokesperson, said the fighting began overnight when soldiers thwarted a drug-smuggling attempt across the border.
He said several hours later, two soldiers in a guard post were shot and killed. Their bodies were found after the shooting when they did not respond to radio communications.
