An Israeli man, apparently involved in attempting to smuggle contraband over the Egyptian border into Israel, was killed during an army chase on Monday night.
The military said that during the incident, soldiers operating surveillance cameras spotted several suspects on the Israeli-Egyptian border and dispatched troops to the scene.
As the troops arrived, the suspects tried to flee in a car. The IDF said the suspects’ car crashed into an army vehicle and overturned, and one of the suspects inside was killed.
No soldiers were hurt in the incident, the military said.
The IDF believes that the suspects were attempting to smuggle contraband over the border using drones.
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In the past year, there have been frequent attempts to bring weapons and drugs over the Egyptian border using drones, with the army thwarting at least three of these attempts since August alone.
Weapons and a drone that were seized by IDF troops following an attempted smuggling on the Egyptian border, August 10, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
According to military officials, smugglers on the Israeli side of the border arrive quietly at areas between a kilometer and five kilometers (half a mile to three miles) from the fence, then fly drones over the border to Egypt, and land them one to three kilometers from the fence.
There, smugglers on the Egyptian side load the drone with contraband, and the smugglers on the Israeli side pilot the drone back to their possession.
To prevent drones from being flown over the border, troops are allowed to open fire on them in an attempt to knock them out of the sky. Additionally, the IDF has deployed electronic warfare capabilities that can jam or take control of the drones and bring them down.
IDF troops stand with a drone that was used in an attempted drug smuggling on the Egyptian border, March 25, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
There have also been attempts to smuggle contraband from Israel into Gaza through the air, with suspects on the Israeli side loading up drones with weapons or drugs and flying them over the border.
The IDF has responded to several of these attempts with airstrikes in Gaza.
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