CAIRO: A Sinai Bedouin belonging to the Sawarka tribe was shot by Egyptian border guards Wednesday as he attempted to jump the border into Gaza.
The man was identified as Salem Ba’rak Al-Sawarka, 28, and he was shot on Palestinian soil after having crossed the fence. He was taken to a hospital on the Palestinian side of Rafah for treatment. He is in serious condition.
Member of the Democratic Front Party and part of the Sawarka tribe, Mohamed El-Menei, told Daily News Egypt that smuggling attempts occur across the Egypt-Gaza border and incidents like this were not uncommon.
“There is smuggling on the border, so there is always the chance that they will get shot by the border guards. This happens often and we hear of incidents such as this all the time, he said.
Another member of the tribe, Khalil Jabr Sawarka, told Daily News Egypt “The tribe is big, so we won’t know him personally unless he is also part of our clan.
The Sawarka tribe is one of the largest in North Sinai, and can be found over an area of some 200 km. The other tribe in Northern Sinai of a similar size is the Tarrabin tribe, and there has sometimes been tension between the two in the past.
Although the majority of smuggling on the Egypt-Gaza border tends to occur via tunnels underneath the border fence, there are also attempts to breach the fence itself. Further south when the fence delineates the border with Israel, some African refugees have made attempts to cross the fence in order to enter Israel.
These attempts are also often aided by groups of smugglers operating on the border, whether trafficking in goods or people.
