An Israeli army tank “accidentally” hit an Egyptian border post near a kibbutz south of Israel on Sunday, according to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
The IDF “expresse[d] sorrow” in a tweet acknowledging the incident “a short while” after it happened. “The incident is being investigated and the details are under review,” the IDF added. The Egyptian border post is near the Keren Shalom kibbutz, an Israeli neighborhood, the tweet noted.
“[O]ne of the Egyptian border watchtowers was accidentally hit by fragments of a shell from an Israeli tank, resulting in minor injuries to some border watchmen,” the Egyptian Armed Forces said in a statement, adding that Israel had “expressed its regret over the unintentional incident immediately after it occurred, and an investigation is underway.” (RELATED: American Lawmaker Confirms Egypt Sent Warning To Israel Three Days Before Attack)
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 expresses sorrow regarding the incident.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 22, 2023
Kerem Shalom, less than 328 feet from Israel’s border with southern Gaza, was one of the kibbutzim affected by the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack, The Times of Israel reported. Israeli social worker Amichai Shindler, 33, had his right forearm, three fingers, and two half-fingers on his left hand blown off, his left arm badly broken, and his face and jaw crushed from an explosive device the terrorists placed at the door of the saferoom of their home, per the report. Shindler was holding the door shut as his wife and six children hid in a far corner of the room, unaware of the explosive outside the door. His family was reportedly not injured.
Egypt and Israel have maintained peace for 44 years since signing a peace treaty in 1979 with U.S. President Jimmy Carter as witness. A rare border shooting incident in June between 22-year-old Egyptian border guard Mohamed Salah and Israeli soldiers left Salah and three Israeli soldiers dead. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi offered his condolences and pledged to investigate the incident in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.