CAIRO: An Egyptian teen was arrested Sunday as he tried to sneak into Gaza to join suicide bombers there, the Interior Ministry said.
The 16-year-old was arrested for a second time in six months at the Rafah crossing in the Sinai and the ministry said he confessed he wanted to meet with elements of Palestinian resistance in Gaza to explode himself in a suicide operation against the Israelis.
After his prior arrest, the teenager had been handed over to his family due to his young age. It wasn t immediately clear what Egyptian authorities will do this time.
People under 18 are considered minors.
Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979, and the border has never been heavily fortified. In some places, it is not even clearly marked.
Israel sends only mobile patrols through those areas, leaving the border wide open for smugglers to bring in contraband, drugs, illegal workers, prostitutes, and, most recently, refugees from Sudan.
In July, Israel said about 2,800 people, including 1,160 Sudanese, crossed illegally from Egypt.