Egyptian border guard killed in exchange of fire with Israeli forces

Egypt said one of its border guards had been killed at the Rafah crossing with Gaza, after reports of an exchange of fire between Egyptian and Israeli forces.

Israel confirmed that a “shooting incident” had taken place on the Egyptian border on Monday, adding that it was “under review” and that “discussions are being held with the Egyptians”, without providing further details.

Egypt’s armed forces also said they were investigating the incident. An Egyptian official sought to play down the shooting, saying it was a “minor incident” and had “no political significance”.

The Israeli military has been present in Rafah since it launched an assault on the southern Gaza city earlier this month, which drew fierce criticism from Egypt and much of the international community.

Israeli officials have insisted that an offensive in the city is necessary to defeat Hamas, which triggered the current hostilities with its October 7 attack on Israel, and whose last major stronghold is in the southern Gazan city.

But even Israel’s closest allies, such as the US, have repeatedly warned of the dire humanitarian toll of a big operation in the city, which became a refuge for more than 1mn civilians after the fighting between Israel and Hamas erupted last year.

The International Court of Justice last week ordered Israel to “immediately halt” its military offensive in Rafah, warning that humanitarian conditions in the city were “disastrous”.

However, Israeli forces continued to operate in the city over the weekend, including a strike on Sunday evening that killed at least 45 people in a tent camp for displaced people in the Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood.

Israel’s military prosecutor has ordered an investigation into the incident, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a “tragic accident”.

It drew international condemnation, however. French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “outraged” by the strike and Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto said that Palestinians were being “squeezed without regard for the rights of innocent men, women and children who have nothing to do with Hamas”.

Egypt was the first Arab country to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in 1979, and major incidents on their shared border have been rare in recent years.

However, in the early weeks of the war, Israel apologised after one of its tanks “accidentally” fired and hit an Egyptian post near the border in the area of Kerem Shalom, injuring several Egyptian border guards.

In June last year, an Egyptian security official shot dead three Israeli soldiers, before being himself shot dead by Israeli forces, in what was the deadliest border clash for more than a decade.