Unauthorized Egyptian vessel enters Israeli waters; IDF responds

IDF officials said the encounter ended without clashes and required no follow-up engagement.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Israeli forces halted an unexpected maritime crossing by an Egyptian vessel on Thursday evening.

The vessel entered Israeli waters and continued forward despite repeated attempts to reach its crew, Israel’s military said.

Troops monitoring the area spotted the ship as it passed the boundary line and attempted radio contact.

When no reply came, commanders activated the response steps used for unresponsive vessels.

Those actions prompted the ship to veer away from the area and head back toward Egyptian territory within a short time.

IDF officials said the encounter ended without any clashes and required no follow-up engagement.

The military described the ship’s brief entry as a violation that was dealt with quickly under routine rules meant to protect Israel’s coastline.

After the incident, the IDF spokesperson issued a statement stressing that relations with Cairo remain steady, noting that “Egypt is a key partner to the peace agreement, and security coordination between the two countries continues as usual.”

The military added that the event had no impact on the ongoing cooperation mechanisms between the neighbors.

Last month, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics reported that the number of people who entered the country from Egypt without authorization had dropped to an estimated 26,700.

The bureau said unauthorized border crossings from Egypt have nearly come to a halt in recent years, leaving a steadily shrinking community made up largely of those who arrived more than a decade ago.

As of the end of 2024, officials counted about 19,600 individuals who originally crossed the border from Egypt, along with roughly 7,100 children born to them while living in Israel.

The updated figures reflect a continued decline tied to earlier enforcement measures and the absence of new large-scale entries, according to the CBS.