BICOM

Two Israeli soldiers, including a female commander, were wounded yesterday following an attack on an IDF patrol on the Egyptian border.

The attack took place in a remote area, near the small community of Azuz. The ambush on the army jeep was apparently launched from multiple directions and involved anti-tank and small arms fire. Large forces were quickly deployed to the area, which repelled the attack and subsequently searched the area to ensure that an infiltration had not taken place. Egyptian forces also reportedly arrived at the scene. The two injured soldiers, both from the Carcal infantry battalion, were airlifted to hospital in Beer Sheva. One suffered light injuries, the other is in a more serious condition.

An IDF statement said, “The perpetrators opened fire from three locations including from a car driving along the border… [Soldiers] responded and killed at least three of the attackers.” The same statement also said, “[An] inquiry suggests the cross-border attack on a patrol was a violent drugs smuggling attempt.” The statement also pledged that the military “will not hesitate to respond” to attacks on soldiers or civilians.

However, Egyptian security sources told the news website Masrawy that the Sinai-based terror group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis was behind the attack. In 2011, a cross-border raid killed eight Israelis, while the group has admitted firing rockets at the southernmost Israeli city of Eilat on several occasions. In 2012, an Israeli civilian was killed by an explosion near the border and an Israeli soldier overseeing construction of the border fence was shot dead.

Since last year’s ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the regime of President al-Sisi has been the main target of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which is thought to have killed hundreds of Egyptian soldiers during the past year. Egypt’s army has launched a major offensive against the group in the Sinai Peninsula. This effort has included the destruction of more than 1,500 smuggling tunnels into Sinai from the Gaza Strip.