Egyptian soldier killed in Israel border incident
An Egyptian soldier was killed in an incident involving Egyptian and Israeli troops near Rafah at the border.
Both the Egyptian and Israeli militaries are investigating the circumstances.
Israeli media reported an exchange of fire, but there are few details and no reports of Israeli casualties.
Tensions between Egypt and Israel have increased since Israeli forces took control of the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing three weeks ago as part of their offensive against Hamas.
Egypt, a strong supporter of the Palestinians, has condemned Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and the resulting deaths of thousands of civilians.
Though Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace deal with Israel 45 years ago, relations have often been strained. Nonetheless, deadly incidents between Egyptian and Israeli troops are rare.
Hours before the shooting, Egypt’s foreign ministry condemned an Israeli strike on Rafah that killed at least 45 people, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, accusing Israel of “targeting defenceless civilians.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that the attack had killed two senior Hamas officials and that it is reviewing reports of civilian casualties caused by the strike and the fire it ignited.
Like Israel, Egypt has maintained a blockade on its border with Gaza since Hamas came to power in 2006. Hamas is an off-shoot of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood organization, which is banned as a terrorist group in Egypt.
Egypt has, however, kept channels open with Hamas and has been acting as a mediator in on-off indirect talks between Israel and the group to try to reach a ceasefire deal and release Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
