Egyptian Soldier Killed in Crossfire with Israeli Troops
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Rafah, MINA – An Egyptian soldier was killed in a shootout that occurred with Israeli troops near the Rafah crossing on Sunday.
Israel’s Kan public broadcast said no Israeli soldiers were injured in the incident that left one Egyptian dead and another injured, Middle East Eye reports.
The Israeli military said, “A few hours ago there was a shooting incident on the Egyptian border, [the incident] is being investigated, dialogue is ongoing with the Egyptian side.”
Meanwhile, the Egyptian military confirmed one person was killed and said it was investigating the shooting.
Daily News Egypt, an independent Egyptian English-language newspaper, quoted an unnamed source as saying the Egyptian army was “affected” by Sunday’s Rafah massacre, in which Israeli bombing led to the killing of 45 Palestinians in a refugee camp.
It was not immediately clear how the gunfire started. Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, an independent news site based in Qatar, said the Egyptian soldier was killed by sniper fire, according to security sources.
The source said the Egyptians did not fire first. In contrast, Israeli public broadcasting media said the Egyptian side opened fire first and the Israeli army acted in self-defense.
The Rafah border crossing was seized by Israeli forces earlier this month as the military expanded its ground invasion of Gaza to the southern city of Rafah.
The occupation of the crossing escalated tensions between Egypt and Israel, threatening 45 years of peace between the two countries, which have previously fought four wars.
Israel’s takeover of the crossing angered Egypt, which usually cooperates closely on security issues with Israel.
An Egyptian military source previously told Middle East Eye that there was “no operational coordination” between Egypt and Israel before the crossing was seized. (T/RE1/P2)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)