JERUSALEM (AP) - Militants crossed from Egypt's turbulent Sinai
Peninsula into southern Israel on Monday and opened fire on civilians
building a border security fence, defense officials said. One of the
Israeli workers was killed, and two assailants died in a gunbattle with
Israeli troops responding to the attack.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which underscored the
growing lawlessness in the Sinai desert since longtime Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak was toppled by a popular uprising last year.
Military spokeswoman Lt. Col Avital Leibovich said the assailants have
not been identified but acknowledged that defense officials suspected
Palestinian militants in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, which also borders
the Sinai desert in that same area, might have been involved.
Several hours after the attack, an Israeli airstrike killed two men
riding a motorcycle in the northern Gaza Strip near the Israeli border.
The Islamic Jihad militant group said the men were members on a
"reconnaissance" mission and vowed revenge. Military officials said the
incident was not connected to the earlier infiltration from Egypt.
Israeli
security officials have grown increasingly anxious about the security
situation in the Sinai since Mubarak's ouster. Continued political
turmoil in Egypt, weak policing in the Sinai and tough terrain have all
encouraged Islamic militant activity in the area.
The mountainous desert
now harbors an array of militant groups, including Palestinian
extremists and al-Qaida-inspired jihadists, Egyptian and Israeli
security officials say. The tumultuous situation surrounding Egyptian
elections, in which Islamic groups made a strong showing, has added to
Israeli unease.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Army Radio that there has been
"a worrisome deterioration of Egyptian control" over the Sinai. Barak
said he expected the winner of this week's presidential elections in
Egypt to honor the country's international obligations - an apparent
reference to Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel. The Muslim
Brotherhood has said it would respect the historic peace accord but that
it would also seek modifications.
Vice Premier Shaul Mofaz, a former defense minister and military chief,
said he hoped Israel could conduct a security dialogue with the
Egyptians and demand more forceful policing in the Sinai.
"No doubt Sinai has become a security problem," Mofaz told Army Radio. "Today's incident ratchets it up a notch."
There was no immediate comment from Egypt on the attack.
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