The Egyptian military confirmed injuries among its border guards on Sunday after Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) admitted that one of its tanks had “accidentally” fired at Egyptian positions near the Gaza-Egypt border.
A spokesperson for the Egyptian army said that fragments of a shell had caused “minor” wounds among the border guards, without providing more details.
The independent Egyptian news outlet MadaMasr, however, reported that nine Egyptian nationals had been injured in the incident near the Rafah border crossing, adding that ambulances carried the wounded guards away to a nearby hospital, according to Egyptian officials quoted anonymously by the outlet.
In a statement about the incident, the Israeli military apologized for the strike.
“A short while ago, an IDF tank accidentally fired and hit an Egyptian post adjacent to the border in the area of Kerem Shalom. The incident is being investigated and the details are under review,” the IDF said in a statement posted to X. “The IDF expresses sorrow regarding the incident.”
The border incident comes after Israel launched its first missile strike on the West Bank from a warplane in nearly two decades on Sunday, as its planned ground offensive appeared ever more imminent.
The warhead struck a mosque at a refugee camp in Jenin that the Israeli Air Force said was sheltering members of Hamas, according to Haaretz. Those hit were a “ticking time bomb” that “planned to commit a murderous attack in Israeli territory,” an Israel Defense Forces spokesman said. Israel had begun drone strikes in the West Bank in July after a similar lull in bombings.
The attack left two Palestinians dead, the Palestinian Health Ministry told Haaretz, while another three were killed by IDF strikes on Jenin, Nablus, and Tubas. 90 Palestinians have been killed since the Oct. 7. terrorist attack by Hamas killed hundreds in Israel.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry blasted the attack as a “dangerous escalation in the use of warplanes,” according to The New York Times.
The attacks also came after 20 trucks of aid provided by the United Nations and the Egyptian Red Crescent drove into Gaza from Egypt on Saturday, the first stream of relief for Palestinians whose resources were cut off by Israel earlier this month. The supplies included items such as pasta, drinking water, and canned tuna, though it did not include fuel. Israel cut off Gaza’s fuel supply shortly after the war began.
Several U.N. agencies including the U.N. Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization warned the convoy, however, was “not enough,” saying in a statement the humanitarian crisis in Gaza had reached “now catastrophic” levels.
“The world must do more,” the agencies said.
David Turner is a globe-trotting journalist who brings a global perspective to our readers. With a commitment to shedding light on international events, he explores complex geopolitical issues, offering a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
