21-Sep-12: [UPDATED] Major mid-day attack on Israel from Sinai thwarted today, but no one thinks the problems are going away

From the Haaretz report [Source] 

There has been a news blackout on developments taking place since about noon today on Israel's Egyptian border. It has just been lifted.

Ynet's report: IDF kills 3 terrorists on Egypt border

Terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula opened fire on an IDF patrol in the Mount Sagi area, on the Israel-Egypt border, at around noon Friday. Heavy exchanges of fire ensued, during which the terrorists were killed. According to an initial investigation, three terrorists approached the border with Israel near the Carmit outpost, situated south of Mount Sagi, at a point where the border fence remains incomplete. The terrorists were equipped with explosive belts and assault rifles. The three opened fire on Artillery Corps soldiers who were securing civilians building the new border fence. Soldiers from the Caracal Battalion, in which both male and female combat soldiers serve, rushed to the scene and killed the terrorists, but not before a large explosive device the terrorists were carrying detonated. They terrorists were also carrying a rocket-propelled grenade, the army said.

Times of Israel: Terrorists engage IDF in heavy gunfire along Egyptian border | Gunmen opened fire on Israeli patrol; two terrorists killed

Gunmen opened fire on an IDF patrol near the Israel-Egypt border on Friday, engaging the Israeli military in a prolonged exchange that left two terrorists dead. Channel 10 news reported that the terrorists had detonated an explosive in the direction of the IDF troops, who were monitoring progress on the border fence, before opening fire.

Haaretz: Sinai terrorists fire at IDF soldiers on Israel-Egypt border | Terrorists from Sinai detonate explosive device on border near Arif Mountain, Israeli soldiers kill three of them

IDF soldiers engaged in heavy clashes with terrorists from Sinai on the Israel-Egypt border on Friday. According to initial reports, a terrorist cell approached the border from Sinai and opened fire toward IDF soldiers, who were stationed there to oversee construction work on the border fence. Additional IDF forces were called to the scene and three terrorists were shot and killed. Initial reports indicate that the terrorists were also armed with explosive belts and ammunition. IDF officials said that the quantity of weapons that were found on the terrorists indicate they were planning a large terror attack... The incident occurred near Arif Mountain in the Ramat Negev Regional Council, an area where Israel has yet to have erected a fence. Defense officials believe that the construction on the border fence in that area is due to conclude within two months. The officials said that work on that portion of the fence has been delayed since it was a mountainous region which is complex for construction.

Meanwhile, the BBC World Service, unaffected by Israeli censorship, reports what we dread hearing

A number of Israeli soldiers have been injured in a clash with armed militants on the Israel-Egypt border, Israeli medics have told the BBC.

The emergence of a Moslem Brotherhood government in Egypt and the evident ambivalence it applies to its dealings with the terrorist regime (ideological siblings of the new ruling party in Cairo) who control the Gaza Strip have left Israelis in little doubt that, however dangerous the southern part of our small country already was (with thousands of rockets fired at Israeli civilians by the jihadists of Gaza since 2005), watchfulness and caution are essential. We have watched, and blogged, as the dangerous emanating from the Sinai desert have gotten bad, worse and worse still. A selection of some our recent posts points the way...

• 30-Aug-11: Dark clouds over Israel's south - hard to see from most newspapers, TVs and web pages 
• 27-Sep-11: Egypt-to-Israel gas pipeline sabotaged for sixth time this year 
• 5-Oct-11: Quote of the day: Sinai is 100% safe [The source, of course, was not Israeli, but Egypt's then military ruler, the now deposed Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi]
• 28-Feb-12: Israel's relations with Egypt: The good, the bad and the ugly
• 7-May-12: The trouble with Sinai
• 17-Jul-12: Sinai used to be seen as a paradise

Stay tuned as we get updated on what's happening down south.

UPDATE Friday 4:00 pm

• Al Jazeera says "One Israeli soldier and three armed men have been killed in clashes along the Israel-Egypt border."
• Reuters says "Israeli troops on Friday killed three militants who infiltrated over the border from Egypt to launch an attack and an Israeli soldier also died in the clash, an Israeli army spokeswoman and Israeli media said. The Israeli military declined immediate comment on reports of Israeli casualties."