Cairo, Tel Aviv investigate border shooting that left Egyptian conscript, 3 Israeli soldiers dead

Mohamed Salah — an Egyptian conscript killed on Saturday in an exchange of fire that led to the death of three IDF personnel — was buried on Monday in his hometown, according to a source who was close to Salah and who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. 

Salah’s brother and uncle were among the very few to attend the funeral in the village of Ammar,  Qalyubiyah, according to the source, who said the two men had spent the 48 hours prior with security personnel who escorted them from their homes on Saturday in the wake of Salah’s death.

After Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu accused Salah on Saturday evening of “terrorism,” friends and members of Salah’s family in the vicinity of his Ain Shams home have been questioned by Egyptian security personnel regarding his religious and political inclinations, according to both domestic and international outlets.

And as both Egyptian and Israeli authorities conduct investigations into what caused the events on Saturday, a number of diplomatic and security sources told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity that Egyptian authorities are working hard behind the scenes to smooth over the incident in the interests of preserving cooperation between the two governments.

On the day of the incident, a security force escorted Salah’s brother and uncle away from his family home, the source said. His family knew nothing of their whereabouts, nor about what happened to Salah’s body until 7 am on Monday morning, said the source, shortly before the burial.

Salah’s body was handed over to Egypt immediately, said the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation, since there was no reason to keep it given, “he did not belong to any terrorist organization, nor would his body be of use in a prisoner exchange or similar.”

Salah was killed on Saturday following an incident in which he crossed from the Egyptian side of the border into the Israeli-held Negev leading to an exchange of fire which killed three Israeli Defence Forces personnel and injured a fourth.

Israeli officials say they think the incident a pre-planned operation, while official Egyptian comments have thus far claimed that Salah was “trying to chase drug smugglers.”

A spokesperson for the Egyptian Armed Forces said that Salah, a member of the force protecting the border, was killed after breaking through the border while in pursuit of a group involved in smuggling drugs, in an incident which the spokesperson described as leading to “an exchange of fire” resulting in the death of three IDF personnel and the injury of two others.

Yet Israeli authorities had said that “the terrorist” was shot by Israeli security forces after he crossed the border and caused an exchange of fire which killed two Israeli personnel at first, another later, and the injury of a fourth. 

According to reports in Israeli media, several hours after the first two soldiers were killed, a drone spotted Salah around 1.5 km from the Ajwa border crossing. Egypt’s border guard then opened fire on Israeli soldiers who were conducting reconnaissance in the area, killing one and injuring another.

An Israeli team of investigators has been operating within Egyptian borders since Sunday evening as part of a joint investigation within the framework of mutual security commitments, a diplomatic source in the United Nations told Mada Masr. The two sides have agreed to issue primary results from the investigations before the end of this week, said a report in the Saudi-based Al-Arabiya news outlet. 

Egypt has been keen to accommodate the Israeli side at the highest level since the incident, said an informed security source speaking on condition of anonymity.

Egyptian Defense Minister Mohamed Zaki called his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Saturday evening to discuss the incident, with an Egyptian Armed Forces readout of the call offering little detail other than that Zaki offered condolences to the victims from both sides and said there would be joint cooperation to prevent similar “accidents.”

Saturday’s events constitute a major embarrassment to Egypt, said the informed security source.

Accounts on social media have celebrated Salah for the offensive on Israeli authorities occupying Palestine, with a European diplomatic source in Cairo expressing surprise at the tone of public discourse in comments to Mada Masr, saying that it was “difficult to understand” given Egypt and Israel agreed on peace decades ago. 

Egyptian authorities had hoped to make progress in truce negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian factions, whose representatives are currently in Egypt, but it has become complicated now that the focus has shifted to investigating the circumstances surrounding the border incident, the source said.

Egyptian authorities are now likely to be more exacting during their enquiries about recruits working in Sinai, said the source.

Diplomatic sources told Mada Masr that Israel appreciates Egypt’s cooperation, and that what happened will not cause a crisis between the two countries, but will result in a review of security measures on the border. 

Security relations between Egypt and Israel are strong, said the sources, especially with regard to the situation in Sinai, which are at their strongest state since the peace agreement.