IDF sends troops, aircraft to Egyptian border after pickup trucks approach

The IDF on Wednesday dispatched troops and aircraft to the border with Egypt — near the Israeli border community of Shlomit — after several white pickup trucks approached the area from the Egyptian side.

Military sources said the Israel Defense Forces contacted the Egyptian military to come and disperse the gathering, which had spooked Israeli civilians living in the area. White pickup trucks have come to be associated with Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, when the terror group employed the vehicles as it broke through the border.

Wednesday was not the first time that pickup trucks have been spotted on the Egyptian side of the border in recent days, though the military has said there is no threat to Israeli residents.

Military officials told the local Eshkol Regional Council that “these are not unusual events and there is no security threat to residents.” However, the council told residents that it has “requested the involvement of the military and government authorities to act to move the gatherings away from the border and to increase vigilance in the area.”

The army stressed that those gathered on the Egyptian border were “unarmed civilians in sovereign Egyptian territory.”

“The IDF is monitoring developments in the border area and is preparing accordingly based on operational needs and security assessments,” the military added.

שוב, גם היום ובמרחק של 100 מטרים מהיישוב שלומית – טנדרים לבנים בצד המצרי. צהל הקפיץ למקום, כוחות, טנק וגם מסוק קרב.
בצהל מדגישים שמדובר באזרחים לא חמושים ומסבירים שהדבר נעשה בתיאום עם המצרים.
זה לא ממש מרגיע את התושבים pic.twitter.com/pShSR49Wsc

— almog boker (@bokeralmog) February 11, 2026

The recent truck sightings have occurred amid intensified IDF efforts to crack down on weapons smuggling across the border, including deploying a helicopter gunship for the first time ever to intercept a pair of drones in December.