Sinai smugglers cut through Egypt fence for first time

The new security fence along Israel’s border with Egypt was breached for the first time recently after at least five other attempts over the past few weeks failed, the IDF said on Wednesday.

The infiltrators, Bedouin smugglers, were chased and caught by IDF soldiers.

They managed to cut the fence with hydraulic and mechanical tools, YNet reported, in an undermanned area near the border.

The fence — an expensive investment by the government to reinforce what had been a very minimal border fence — was built to keep out infiltrators and prevent terror attacks like the one that occurred near Eilat last August, in which eight Israelis were killed.

The new fence is still being constructed.