Police arrested ten people from African countries on Saturday for attempting to enter Israel from Sinai.
A security source told DPA that a police patrol spotted the group trying to cross the barbed wire to get into Israel. They were arrested in the Kontella area in central Sinai. Police fired warning shots in the air before making the arrests. The people smugglers, however, managed to flee.
The group consisted of six Eritreans, three Sudanese and an Ethiopian. They admitted attempting to cross into Israel to find jobs, saying they each paid US$1000 to the smugglers.
Attempts by Africans to sneak into Israel have continued for years, provoking Israel to start building a separation barrier along the border with Egypt to curb such attempts.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
