The Israeli army began investigations with the Egyptian side after Tel Aviv announced the death of 3 of its soldiers and the injury of an officer shot by an Egyptian policeman, in a clash that took place at dawn on Saturday and lasted for hours at the Al-Awja border crossing.

For its part, the Egyptian side linked the incident to a shooting that occurred while chasing drug smugglers across the border.

The Egyptian army spokesman said in a statement, "One of the security personnel in charge of securing the international border line chased the elements of drug smuggling, and during the chase, the security personnel breached the security barrier."

"The officer exchanged fire, which led to the death of three Israeli insurance personnel and the injury of two others, in addition to the death of an Egyptian insurance member during the exchange of fire," he said.

The Israeli army said that "the terrorist who carried out the attack on the border is an Egyptian policeman," and pointed out that its soldiers are conducting combing operations in the area to ensure that there are no "other terrorists," as he described.

The Israeli military stated that the investigation into the incident was being carried out in full and close cooperation with the Egyptian army.

Israeli soldiers near the site of the clash (Reuters)

Sending special forces

Israeli media reported that troops from al-Yamam's special unit and drones had been sent to comb the border with Egypt for fear of the presence of other gunmen.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said he had assessed the situation with the chief of staff and that the military was conducting the necessary investigations to uncover the circumstances.

"Our soldiers carried out their missions faithfully, but the incident at the border with Egypt ended with disastrous consequences," Gallant said.

At the same time, the Israeli police announced the closure of all roads and axes leading to the border with Egypt.

In his first comments at the political level, the Israeli prime minister said in a letter to his cabinet ministers that the incident near Egypt's borders was "exceptional," stressing that it would not affect security cooperation with Cairo.

After a shooting attack that killed 3 Israeli soldiers. Colleague Suhaib Al-Stick explains the rugged geography of the place where the clash took place on the Egyptian-Israeli border#News pic.twitter.com/WdrSTSymiu

— Al Jazeera (@AJArabic) June 3, 2023

Circumstances of the clash

The Israeli army initially announced the death of two of its soldiers at dawn today, noting that their bodies were later found.

While the Israeli military spoke of one attacker, sources told Al Jazeera that militants infiltrated and opened fire at various stages along the border with Egypt.

The sources added that the Israeli army found the two dead soldiers hours after the shooting took place at the border with Egypt, before announcing the death of the third soldier.

According to the same sources, the shooting took place at half past four o'clock in the morning.

According to accounts circulated by Israeli sources, the perpetrator of the attack opened fire on guard personnel, killing a male and female soldier, and when a military patrol arrived at the site after communication with them was cut off, the perpetrator fired on the patrol, wounding other soldiers, one of whom died of his wounds.

Israeli sources said the IDF suspected another militant had escaped into Egyptian territory.

The Israel Broadcasting Corporation said the Egyptians had sent messages to Israel that they were unaware of the policeman's intentions and had nothing to do with the incident.

Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Palestine, Walid al-Omari, said the last time an infiltration attempt on the Egyptian-Israeli border saw a smuggler killed was a year and a half ago.

Omari said the border was active between 2004 and 2012 until Israel built a 241-kilometer security fence stretching from Eilat and Taba on the Red Sea to the junction point of the Egyptian-Israeli-Palestinian border east of Rafah.