The Egyptian military has confirmed that its border guards were injured on Sunday after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged that one of its tanks had mistakenly fired at Egyptian positions near the Gaza-Egypt border.
An Egyptian army spokesperson stated that fragments of a shell had caused “minor” injuries among the border guards, but did not provide any further details.
According to the independent Egyptian news outlet MadaMasr, however, nine Egyptian nationals were injured in the incident near the Rafah border crossing. Egyptian officials quoted anonymously by the outlet stated that ambulances transported the wounded guards to a nearby hospital.
In a statement regarding 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 occurs as Israel launches its first missile strike on the West Bank from a warplane in nearly two decades on Sunday, heightening the anticipation of its planned ground offensive.
The warhead struck a mosque at a refugee camp in Jenin, which the Israeli Air Force claimed was housing members of Hamas, as reported by Haaretz. The Israel Defense Forces spokesperson referred to those struck as a “ticking time bomb” who were planning a “murderous attack in Israeli territory.” Israel had resumed drone strikes in the West Bank in July following a period of relative calm.
The attack resulted in the death of two Palestinians, as reported by the Palestinian Health Ministry to Haaretz, while an additional three were killed by IDF strikes in Jenin, Nablus, and Tubas. Since the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7, which claimed hundreds of lives in Israel, a total of 90 Palestinians have been killed.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry criticized the attack as a “dangerous escalation in the use of warplanes,” according to The New York Times.
The attacks also occurred after 20 trucks of aid provided by the United Nations and the Egyptian Red Crescent entered Gaza from Egypt on Saturday, marking the first delivery of relief supplies to Palestinians who have been cut off by Israel earlier this month. The supplies included items such as pasta, drinking water, and canned tuna, but did not include fuel. Israel halted Gaza’s fuel supply shortly after the conflict began.
However, several U.N. agencies, including the U.N. Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization, cautioned that the convoy is “insufficient,” stating in a statement that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has now reached catastrophic levels.
“The world must do more,” emphasized the agencies.
