An Egyptian terrorist opened fire, killing three Israeli soldiers before being shot.
Two IDF soldiers (a man and a woman) were killed on Saturday in an exchange of fire at the Israeli-Egyptian border at two different locations, in the Paran area. According to an IDF statement released on Saturday afternoon, a third soldier was also killed in an exchange of fire in a separate incident: “An IDF soldier was killed in an exchange of fire with an assailant in Israeli territory, in the area of the regional brigade of Paran. The IDF soldiers who were near the soldier fired and neutralized the aggressor”. The terrorist who killed the two Israeli soldiers and a third soldier in a crossfire in the area hours later was an Egyptian policeman, the Israeli army says.
In addition, an IDF non-commissioned officer was lightly injured and evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment.
The families of the soldiers have been notified. According to the statement, the IDF expresses its sincere condolences to the families.
Around 4:30 a.m., suspicious activity was detected by the Israel Defense Forces near Nitsana. The soldiers arrived in a Jeep when the Egyptian terrorist who entered Israeli territory opened fire on them. After an exchange of fire, the soldiers were injured and contact with them was abruptly cut off.
IDF patrols were sent to search for them in the area and their dead bodies were located around 9:30 a.m. During IDF search operations, the terrorist again opened fire on soldiers before being shot. Several people were injured in the incident and evacuated to Soroka Hospital in Beersheva.
Defense Minister Yoav Galant held an assessment of the security situation with the Chief of Staff and senior security officials.
On Tuesday, IDF soldiers foiled an attempt to smuggle drugs worth around 300,000 shekels. IDF soldiers had spotted suspects attempting to smuggle drugs from Egyptian territory into Israeli territory.