September 2012 southern Israel cross-border attack
September 2012 southern Israel cross-border attack refers to an incident on 21 September 2012, when three Egyptian militants, wearing civilian clothes and armed with explosive belts, AK-47 rifles and RPG launchers, approached the Egypt-Israel border in an area where the Egypt–Israel barrier was incomplete, and opened fire on a group of IDF soldiers supervising the civilian workers who were constructing the border fence.
| September 2012 southern Israel cross-border attack | |
|---|---|
| Part of Sinai insurgency | |
The attack site | |
| Location | Southern Israel near Mount Harif |
| Coordinates | 30°29′40″N 34°33′27″E |
| Date | 21 September 2012 |
Attack type | Spree shooting |
| Weapons | RPG launchers, two explosive belts, grenades and AK-47 rifles |
| Deaths | 1 Israeli soldier, 3 Ansar Bait al-Maqdis militants |
| Injured | 1 Israeli soldier |
| Perpetrators | Militants from Ansar Bait al-Maqdis |
| Motive | Response to the film Innocence of Muslims and to "discipline the Jews for their heinous acts." |
The militants opened fire on a small group of IDF soldiers, shooting from a distance of about 100 meters, as the soldiers were giving water to a group of 10 illegal immigrants from Africa who were also crossing the border into Israel. During the incident, which was thwarted at a relatively early stage by the IDF forces, one Israeli soldier was killed and another moderately wounded. Both of the soldiers were graduates of Hesder yeshivas. The three militants were killed in the ensuing gunfight; one was killed by a female soldier from the mixed-gender Caracal Battalion.
The jihadist militant group Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, an al-Qaeda-inspired militant organization based in the Sinai Peninsula, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The border attack was the fourth cross-border incident of its kind to be carried out in a period of approximately one year, despite Egypt's attempt to eradicate militant activity in the Sinai Peninsula.