Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Israeli Soldier Killed In Tank Accident On Border With Egypt

JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli soldier was killed and three others injured when the tank they were riding in along the border with Egypt rolled over and caught fire.

The accident during an operation to stop a smuggling attempt on the border, which security forces thought could be cover for a terrorist attack, came very early on Saturday morning.

The dead soldier was later named as Corporal Eliyahu Drori, 20, from Beit Shemesh. He was buried at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem.

The tank was called to the scene of the smuggling attempt after intelligence that an Islamic State cell in the Sinai planned to carry out an attack, Ynet reported.

According to a preliminary investigation, the tank fell into a riverbed after veering off its planned course. It is not known why the tank changed course. The tank’s fall may have ignited a shell, according to reports.

Two of the other soldiers in the tank were seriously injured and one was lightly injured.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.