The Egyptian army arrested an Arab man earlier in the week as he tried to infiltrate Israel. While Egypt initially said, based on the man’s claims, that he was a Saudi national, officials announced Monday that the man is not Saudi. He is an Egyptian national, they said, who now claims he was trying to enter Israel in order to find work.

Israeli security officials announced recently that the IDF and border police thwarted several dozen attempted infiltrations in 2006. They criticized the security along the Egyptian border, saying that long stretches are open and relatively unprotected.