Israel claims foiling arms smuggling attempt from Egypt

The Israeli army claimed on Tuesday it had shot down a drone coming from Egypt carrying weapons and ammunition, Anadolu Agency reported.

The Israeli army said on X that the army’s surveillance systems in the Faran Brigade detected a drone that crossed the Israeli border from Egypt and subsequently shot it down.

The army claimed that during searches conducted by the forces, the drone was located carrying 11 long weapons and ammunition.

The Israeli army also attached a photo of what it claimed was the weapons and ammunition.

In October 2024, the Israeli army claimed to have thwarted an attempt to smuggle weapons from Egypt to Israel using a drone.

As of 4:30 PM GMT, Cairo did not comment on the Israeli army’s claim.

Egypt and Israel have been bound by a peace treaty since 1979.

However, Cairo, along with many other capitals, has sharply criticised Tel Aviv’s genocidal war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip for the past 20 months, which left more than 179,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing.

Egypt is also pushing for the implementation of a plan, adopted by the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation last March, to rebuild Gaza without displacing Palestinians. The plan is expected to take five years and cost approximately $53 billion.

Israel and the United States rejected the plan, adhering to U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to displace Palestinians from Gaza to neighbouring countries such as Egypt and Jordan.