Monday, June 18, 2012

Gunmen kill Israeli on Egypt border, 2 attackers dead

By Maayan Lubell

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Militants fired on an Israeli crew building a border barrier on the Egyptian frontier on Monday, killing one of the workers, and Israeli soldiers shot dead two of the infiltrators, the military said.

The incident, hours after Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood declared victory in the country's presidential election, seemed certain to raise Israeli concern about lawlessness in Egypt's Sinai desert since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

"A terrorist squad opened fire and possibly also fired an anti-tank rocket at an area where (Israel) is constructing the border fence," Israeli military spokesman Yoav Mordechai told Army Radio.

An Israeli military source said one of the workmen, an Arab citizen of Israel, was killed by the gunmen. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, about 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the Gaza Strip.

Soldiers who rushed to the scene killed two of the militants and searched the Israeli side of the border for more gunmen, the source said.

To curb an influx of African migrants and boost security, Israel is building a fence along the frontier with Egypt that it hopes to complete by the end of the year. The barrier will run most of the 266 km (165 miles) from Eilat, on the Red Sea, up to the Gaza Strip.

The porous desert border between Israel and Egypt was relatively quiet for three decades after the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1979. But Israel says Egypt has lost its grip on the Sinai since Mubarak's downfall.

In the most serious attack in the area since the Egyptian popular uprising, militants crossed over the Egyptian border and killed eight Israelis in August 2011.

On Saturday, at least two rockets were fired deep into southern Israel, causing no damage or casualties. It was not clear whether they were launched from Gaza or Sinai.

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, ruled by Islamist Hamas, have launched Grad rockets at Israel from the coastal territory in the past. Israel says militants have also crossed into Sinai to launch similar attacks on its territory.

Overnight on Sunday, Israeli aircraft carried out a series of strikes in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire from the enclave. Medical sources in Gaza said seven people were wounded.

(Additional reporting by Saleh Salem in Gaza; Editing by Jeffrey Heller)

News

Monday, June 18, 2012

Gunmen kill Israeli on Egypt border, 2 attackers dead

By Maayan Lubell