IDF Spokesman Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai denied Tuesday morning that there has been a spike in the number of terror alerts regarding Israel’s southern border with Egypt. While the Ministry of Education reported that it had canceled planned field trips to the region due to increased tension, the IDF Spokesman said that on the contrary, the overall size of the areas forbidden for travel has been diminished.

Brig. Gen Mordechai told IDF Radio that the fence being constructed along the Egyptian border may be completed before the deadline set by the Chief of Staff at December 12, 1212.

The Ministry of Education’s situation room published instructions to schools and youth movements Monday, in which it forbade hiking near the Netafim crossing and south of Route 12. A terror alert in the Eilat region was cited as the reason for this. However, in the evening, the ministry said that hikes to the region would be renewed.

Ten field trips in the region were cancelled and the hikers were evacuated from the area. The ministry said that this was a specific decision regarding these field trips and not a general one, but offered no further explanation.

Security sources said that there is no change in the level of alert along the Egyptian border, and that decisions regarding field trips are made by the Ministry of Education’s security department.