An 15-year-old Bedouin youth employed by the Defense Ministry was shot and killed near Mount Sagi in southern Israel on Tuesday afternoon while working on the border fence with Egypt, officials said.
The bullet came from across the border in Egypt, though it was not immediately clear who fired it, the IDF said. The army maintains that this was not a terror incident, calling it stray fire, although the matter is being investigated.
The dead boy was employed by the Defense Ministry to perform maintenance work on the fence, a spokesperson for the ministry said. In Israel, youths over the age of 14 can obtain working papers for summer jobs and part time work. Education is compulsory for ages 6-16.
He was transported by helicopter to Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center for treatment, where he died of his wounds.
Road 10 which runs adjacent to the site of the attack was only recently reopened to civilian vehicles five years after a terror attack from Egypt on nearby Road 12 claimed the lives of 7 Israelis.
