Security services intercepted 15 migrants Wednesday while they were attempting to cross into Israel.
Border guards spotted the group in central Sinai.
Security source told German news agency DPA that the migrants tried to use the inclement weather as cover while crossing the border, but guards spotted them.
The migrants were arrested after guards fired shots in the air.
Investigators claim that the group was comprised of five Sudanese nationals, seven Ethiopians and three Eritreans, and further alleged that all admitted to trying to cross the border to seek jobs. Each migrant allegedly paid US$2,000 to smugglers.
Increasing numbers of migrants, mostly from the Horn of Africa or Sudan, have attempted to cross into Israel from Sinai in recent years to look for work or to seek asylum. Dozens of migrants have been killed by Egyptian border guards at the border, and many others have been kidnapped and sometimes murdered by smugglers.
