An Egyptian Interior Ministry official says five Egyptian security personnel were killed when Israeli soldiers were pursuing Gaza militants after a bloody attack along the border in the Sinai Peninsula.
He says three were killed Thursday and two soldiers died Friday from wounds, bringing death toll to five.
The official says it is not yet clear who shot the soldiers, but “most probably” they were caught in the crossfire when Israeli soldiers were chasing militants after they ambushed civilian vehicles traveling on a remote road, killing eight people.
The gunmen appear to have originated in Gaza and crossed into southern Israel through the Egyptian desert. Six of the slain were civilians, and two were members of Israeli security forces responding to the incursion.
The attack signaled a new danger for Israel from its border with the Sinai Peninsula, long quiet under the rule of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak. He was deposed in February, and the desert of the Sinai Peninsula — always restive and controlled largely by Bedouin tribes — has become increasingly lawless.
The sudden spike in violence threatened to upset the already frayed ties between Israel and Egypt and escalate the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
On Friday, militants in Gaza launched at least 10 rockets into Israel, the military said. One, aimed at the city of Ashkelon, was intercepted by the new Israeli anti-missile system known as Iron Dome. Another hit next to a synagogue in the port city of Ashdod and wounded six Israelis, according to Israeli emergency services.
