Two projectiles landed in two Egyptian cities on the Red Sea today, Friday, injuring several people, highlighting the danger of extending the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in the region, according to two sources and officials. The Israeli army attributed the incident to what it described as an "aerial threat" in the Red Sea area, potentially linked to the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen, known for using drones.
Egyptian army spokesman Colonel Tamer El-Gharib stated that "one unidentified drone" fell this morning near a hospital building in Taba on the Red Sea, close to the Sinai Peninsula border with Israel, injuring six people. He mentioned that "the incident is under investigation by a committee of the relevant authorities."
Later, two Egyptian security sources told Reuters that another object fell near an electricity station in Nuweiba, located about 70 kilometers from the border, and that they were still gathering more information. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the explosion, but Egyptian news channel Al-Qahira News reported that the missile that struck Taba seems related to the ongoing fighting between the Israeli army and Hamas fighters in Gaza, approximately 220 kilometers away.
The Egyptian Ministry of Health announced that "six people were injured in the shelling of an ambulance facility and a residential building in Taba, with four of them already discharged from the hospital." Witnesses in the two cities, who requested anonymity, confirmed the explosions and the rising smoke. Informed sources indicated that the missile caused damage to a residential building in the city after hitting the ambulance structure and the administrative housing of the city's central hospital.
Meanwhile, Egyptian authorities have launched an investigation into the incident to uncover the circumstances surrounding it, and communications have taken place between Egypt and Israel to ascertain the reasons for the incident, with an official statement expected to be issued.
A circulating video of the Taba missile strike incident shows the extent of the damage caused. Several Egyptian officials have arrived at the site of the incident in Taba. The injured have been taken to the hospital for treatment after the administrative housing was evacuated.
In its statement, the Israeli army confirmed that it was aware of a security incident near its border with Egypt on the Red Sea earlier today, following reports of an explosion in Taba. It added that it was aware of the security incident, affirming it was outside its borders. Eyewitnesses noted a missile landing in this city on the Red Sea at the eastern end of Sinai, where there is a border crossing towards Israel.
It is worth noting that this was not the first incident of its kind since the escalation of Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip adjacent to the Egyptian border. Last week, shortly after a convoy of aid entered the Rafah crossing from the Egyptian side towards southern Gaza, an explosion occurred in the area. An Israeli army spokesperson announced at that time that one of their tanks inadvertently hit an Egyptian site near the border, indicating that the incident was under investigation, and expressed regret for what happened.
For its part, the Egyptian army stated then that one of the border monitoring towers was hit by shrapnel from an Israeli projectile by mistake, noting that some border monitoring personnel sustained minor injuries from the shrapnel. Additionally, eyewitnesses reported that an explosion occurred, and ambulance sirens were heard near the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.
