Egyptian soldiers in Sinai
Photo: Reuters
Egyptian army kills Palestinian trying to infiltrate Sinai through tunnel
Two others arrested after the three ignored Egyptian border guards' orders to stop and tried to return into the tunnel instead.
A Palestinian man trying to infiltrate Sinai through a smuggling tunnel was shot dead and two others arrested by the Egyptian army on Saturday, Palestinian media reported.
The three were spotted exiting a tunnel near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the Egyptian side of Rafah.
The Egyptian border guards ordered them to stop, but instead the three Palestinians tried to return into the tunnel. The border guards opened fire, killing one of the Palestinians and arresting the other two.
Egyptian army tanks deployed to Sinai (Photo: AP/File)
Palestinian news agency Ma'an quoted sources saying the Egyptian army has announced a state of alert on the border with the Gaza Strip following intelligence on a potential infiltration of gunmen from Gaza to Sinai.
Following the ouster of Hamas ally Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian army has launched an extensive operation cracking down on jihadists in the Sinai Peninsula.
The Egyptian army said is has destroyed over 2,000 smuggling tunnels connecting the Gaza Strip to Sinai. This crackdown makes it harder on Hamas to smuggle goods, arms and construction materials into the Strip, and harder on Palestinian jihadists to infiltrate Sinai and attack Egyptian army posts.
