Gun battle was caused by Israeli forces breaching no-go area along Egypt-Gaza border, sources say
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Israeli troops were in breach of a prohibited, no-man’s area that runs parallel to Egypt’s border with Gaza in the city of Rafah when Egyptian troops fired warning shots to alert them to their transgression, sources told The National on Tuesday.
They said the Israeli soldiers did not heed the warning. Instead, they opened fire, initiating a gun battle that killed an Egyptian soldier and wounded three, including one in serious condition.
There were unconfirmed reports that Monday’s gun battle also killed an Israeli soldier and wounded five others, the sources said.
There was no comment from Israel about whether its forces suffered casualties in the clash.
The militaries of Israel and Egypt said they were reviewing the incident.
“It’s standard practice that warning shots are fired if the no-go area is violated,” said one of the sources. “Their action was clearly provocative. A case of harassment.”
The incident has plunged relations between Egypt and Israel to a new low amid months of tension caused by the Gaza war, which began nearly eight months ago.
It has also fuelled already strong anti-Israeli sentiments in a country that fought its Middle East neighbour in four full-fledged wars between 1948 and 1973. Many Egyptians continue to see Israel as their country’s number one enemy despite a 1979 peace treaty.
The deadly clash on Monday has unleashed a new wave of anger on social media platforms, the only window for freedom of speech in the country of 106 million people. Most users branded the dead soldier a “martyr” and a “hero”, with strong anti-Israel sentiments online.
They identified the deceased soldier as 22-year-old conscript Abdullah Ramadan and widely shared an image purporting to show him smiling in desert camouflage fatigues and with armoured fighting vehicles in the background.
Many Egyptian have expressed frustration over the reference to the soldier in an army statement as a “onsor” – Arabic for “individual” or an “element” – rather than honour him by mentioning his name.
Others lamented he was not given a full military funeral worthy of a soldier who died “defending his country” and shared images of his funeral on Tuesday that drew hundreds of mourners to his village in Fayoum, an oasis region about 120km south-west of Cairo.
His coffin was shown to be wrapped in the black, white and red Egyptian flag. Many also shared short poems composed to praise him.
“These are the creme de la creme of Egypt, they are the eyes of the Egyptians,” wrote prominent political activist Haitham Mohammedein on Facebook along with an image of the soldier.
Border skirmishes between Egyptian and Israeli forces are rare.
Comments attributed to an anonymous, high-level source and aired on state media outlets on Monday night underlined the depth of Cairo’s anger over Monday’s shooting.
Egypt warned against compromising the security and safety of its security forces and would take the necessary measures to prevent the incident from recurring, said the source.
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