Update: Israeli man shot dead near Egyptian border

An Israeli civilian died on Tuesday afternoon after being injured by gunfire near the border with Egypt, Israeli authorities said.

The Israeli military said in a statement that the man, whose identity was not disclosed, was shot and injured by gunfire coming from Egypt's Sinai desert as he was carrying out maintenance works on the border fence near Mount Harif.

A military helicopter sent him to the Soroka hospital in Beersheba before he succumbed to his wounds, a hospital official said.

The motive for the shooting was so far unclear.

Reports from Egyptian side suggested that the fire was not aimed at the Israeli workers. It was a spillover of a shootout between Egyptian security forces and Islamist militants in Sinai.

Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979. Ties between the countries have been strong throughout the past decades.

The border has been mostly calm, but in 2011, a Jihadi group attacked Israeli cars and a bus near Sinai, killing six Israeli civilians, an Israeli soldier and five Egyptian soldiers. Endit