A contract border fence worker employed by the Defense Ministry was moderately-to-seriously wounded by gunfire along the Egyptian border on the afternoon of 23 Tishrei. The incident occurred not far from Har Harif, southwest of Mitzpei Rimon. The wounded man was flown in an Israel Air Force helicopter to the trauma unit of Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva. At the time of this report, it appears the gunfire was erroneous and not a terror attack as feared earlier.

The wounded person has died of the gunshot wounds.

EARLIER REPORTS FOLLOW BELOW:

3:12PM IL: Gunfire along the Egyptian border in the Har Harif area has left one person wounded according to initial reports. The IDF spokesman unit confirms gunfire was heard in that area and the incident is being probed. Stay with YWN-ISRAEL for additional information.

3:17PM IL: Channel 2 News has tweeted a Defense Ministry employee was wounded by gunfire in the incident. There are no additional details at this time as security authorities continue probing the incident.

3:37PM IL: The wounded person is reportedly a civilian employee hired by the Defense Ministry to perform border fence maintenance. The wounded person’s condition is now reportedly moderate-to-serious and a helicopter has been summoned to evacuate the patient to a trauma center.

The IAF tweets “a Blackhawk helicopter has been scrambled to extract the civilian that was fired upon and injured near the Egyptian border”.

3:41PM IL: The wounded worker is being transported to the trauma unit of Soroka Hospital in Beersheva. Maintenance work on the Israeli/Egyptian border fence has been halted temporarily.

It appears the shooting was mistaken gunfire and not a terror attack.

Published Isru Chag Sukkos from Yerushalayim.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)