Israeli reports say Egyptian border incident premeditated

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
4 Jun 2023 18:31

Israeli media claims that the shoutout that took place at the Palestinian-Egyptian border was premeditated by the Egyptian policeman.

Israeli occupation forces secure a gate leading to a military base following a deadly shootout in southern occupied Palestine along the Egyptian border, June 3, 2023 (AP)

The investigation into the shootout that took place at the Palestinian-Egyptian border on Saturday shows that the Egyptian policeman had laid out his plan by virtue of his work as an Egyptian border guard officer, Israeli media said on Sunday.

The probe into the incident that killed three Israeli soldiers, the Israeli website i24News reported, showed that the Egyptian officer had two knives and used one of them to cut the fence on the emergency crossing designated for the passage of the occupation forces when needed to the Egyptian side, using it to cross into occupied Palestine. After his death, it was discovered that there was a Quran on his person.

"The investigation showed that the Egyptian policeman knew the area well by virtue of his work as a permanent Egyptian border guard and knew exactly the whereabouts of the two soldiers who were shot early on," the Israeli news outlet said.

The report added that the border guard officer set up a place of hiding to stay longer in occupied Palestine, positioning himself 1.5 km into the occupied territories, marking a bunch of rocks using the mountainous terrain of the area that includes many curves and rocky heights.

Another report by the Israeli Ynet website said that at 7 pm local time, two hours after it was reported that gunshots were heard in the area, the Egyptians announced that they had lost one policeman.

"This incident took place in an area in which operations take place from time to time, the latest of which was hours before the incident, as a drug smuggling operation was busted at 3 am," Israeli occupation forces spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Hagari told Ynet.

What happened at the Ajwa Crossing?

At approximately 9 pm, local time, a male soldier and a female soldier took up their positions in an observation tower situated 3 kilometers northwest of the Awja Crossing, also known as "Nitzana."

Later at dawn on Saturday, at around 6 am, gunfire erupted in the vicinity of the observation post, which led the male and female soldiers to inform their command of what they heard and they decided to conduct a search operation around the tower. Contact with the soldiers was lost, and it remained severed until a military force was dispatched to their location.

By approximately 9 am, the responding force discovered that both soldiers had been killed and their weapons found beside them. In response, an extensive search operation was initiated, and additional military reinforcements, including airborne units and fighter helicopters, were deployed.

Around noon, the spokesperson for the IOF made an announcement stating that a renewed exchange of gunfire had taken place in the area. Approximately thirty minutes later, it was reported that an armed individual, identified as an Egyptian citizen wearing Egyptian police attire, had been killed. Following this, the IOF confirmed the death of a third Israeli soldier and the injury of an officer.

The Israeli occupation named the three soldiers killed as Staff Sargeant Ohad Danan, who was killed later on, and Staff Sargeant Ori Izhad Iluz and Sargeant Lia Ben nun, who were killed in their guard post.

"The soldiers were last contacted at the observation points was made at 04:15 am," he said. "Uri was the senior commander in the center and was tasked with making contact with the forward command room. Contact was supposed to be made every hour. In the morning, two dead bodies were found."

Governmental action amid humiliation

The Israeli website revealed that Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to hold a meeting for the political and security cabinet Sunday afternoon to discuss the security developments in light of the "mysterious and dangerous attack."

Netanyahu on Sunday deemed the shooting operation that left three occupation soldiers killed by an Egyptian policeman on the border with Egypt a "terrorist attack", calling for a joint investigation with Egyptian authorities.

"Israel relayed a clear message to the Egyptian government. We expect that the joint investigation will be exhaustive and thorough," Netanyahu told his government in a televised statement.

The Israeli news website indicated that Israeli occupation forces suffered a serious failure in preventing "infiltration" into "Israel" and the way in which they were supposed to be prepared to deal with such incidents.

Maariv indicated that in this "severe attack", not only was the Israeli military position itself "overrun" by the Egyptian policeman - the "entire defense concept" also failed the real test.

The report highlighted that the recent operation at the border with Egypt shows the importance of maintaining operational efficiency, vigilance, and preparation for an unusual event that may occur, underlining that what happened requires a very comprehensive and in-depth investigation.

Maariv considered that the Egyptian policeman's plan, which succeeded despite its simplicity, exposed the complete collapse of the security system of the Israeli occupation forces in this particular area, admitting that the results of the operation were indeed difficult and painful.