Israel kills armed infiltrator

Israeli soldiers shot dead an armed man this morning who had infiltrated into Israeli territory from the Sinai peninsula, Israel Army Radio reported.

The fatality was part of a group that Israeli soldiers spotted trying to sneak across the border about 40 kilometres north of the Israeli port city of Eilat, at the tip of the Gulf of Aqaba.

The rest of the group fled back into the Sinai when spotted, dropping the bags they were carrying, the report said.

It was not immediately clear whether the group were militants intending to attack a target in Israel, or smugglers.