Two Israeli combat soldiers were killed early on Saturday morning at a military post near Mount Harif, in the Negev desert, the regime’s army said. The discovery of their bodies a few hours later triggered a manhunt in which a third soldier was killed, as well as the assailant.
A fourth Israeli soldier sustained minor injuries in the shootout.
An Israeli army statement on Sunday identified the attacker as an Egyptian police officer, who was killed by Israeli troops after being found “in Israeli territory”.
It said an investigation “in full cooperation with the Egyptian army” was under way.
Israeli media reported that the unnamed assailant entered the occupied Palestinian territory through an emergency crossing in the border fence designed to allow the Israeli army to access the restive Sinai peninsula.
Egypt says a member of the country’s security forces had been chasing drug smugglers crossing the security fence, and that “an exchange of fire” took place.
Source: The Guardian