Illustrative Image: Military vehicles and soldiers of Egyptian Armed Forces are seen as Egypt reinforces its military in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt on October 27, 2014. (Pool / Egyptian Armed Forces – Anadolu Agency)
On May 27, a firefight was reported between the Egyptian military and the Israeli Defense Forces in the border area near Rafah. There was no immediate comment from the Egyptian and Israeli authorities.
Israeli media reported that the IDF fired “warning shots” in the direction of the Egyptian forces. Al-Mayadeen also reported the opening of fire by the Egyptian military and retaliatory shots from the IDF. Daily News Egypt, an independent Egyptian newspaper, cited unnamed sources as saying Egyptian soldiers were “affected” by the Rafah massacre on Sunday, in which an Israeli bombing led to the killing of 45 Palestinians at a displacement camp.
According to preliminary reports, the incident resulted in casualties. According to Israeli media, an Egyptian soldier was killed. Some other sources reported that two servicemen were killed. Sources write about the wounded among Israeli soldiers.
The incident is investigated.
The occupation of the Rafah crossing increased tensions between Egypt and Israel, threatening 45 years of peace between the two countries, which had previously fought four wars. Cairo deployed additional military personnel and heavy military equipment to its border with Gaza since the beginning of Israeli military operations in the area.
