Bullets fired from Egypt hit home in Israeli youth village

Several bullets hit a residential home in the Negev desert on Thursday, with the military saying they had been fired by the Egyptian army during a drill and accidentally crossed into Israel.

The bullets were discovered inside a trailer at the educational youth village in Nitzana, near the border with Egypt, by the leader of one of the local youth groups. They caused minor damage to the structure, but no casualties as nobody was in the room at the time.

“The IDF takes this sort of incident seriously, and the incident will be investigated,” a military spokesperson said.

Ramat Negev Regional Council head Eran Doron said it was the second such incident in the last month, adding that he was “closely following” the developments and in contact with army officials.

“I expect the military to coordinate matters with the Egyptians to calm down the situation so that we can keep our daily routine,” he said.

Although uncommon, there have previously been similar incidents involving stray bullets fired into Israel from Egypt, in military drills or in fights with terror groups in the Sinai Peninsula.

One occurred earlier this year, and in November 2017 a soldier was lightly injured.