Falcon powers – The American newspaper “Financial Times” quoted an unnamed Egyptian security official on Monday, May 27, 2024, as saying that there is an agreement between Tel Aviv and Cairo to “move forward” and let the case of the killing of the Egyptian soldier by Israeli fire “die in peace”, and revealed Egypt’s desire not to “escalate” the incident.
Earlier on Monday, the Egyptian army announced in a brief statement the “martyrdom” of a security element on the border with the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip following a shooting incident, noting that an investigation into the incident had been opened.
This came shortly after the Israeli army announced the occurrence of an “exchange of fire” between its soldiers and Egyptian forces near the Rafah land crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which resulted in the killing of an Egyptian soldier, with no Israeli casualties.
“To die in peace”
The American newspaper said that an Egyptian military official sought to downplay the importance of the shooting, saying in a statement to the newspaper that it was a “simple incident” and has “no political significance.”
For its part, the Israeli newspaper “Yedioth Ahronoth” quoted an unnamed Egyptian security official as saying that “the two sides decided to let the case of the killing of the Egyptian soldier (die in peace).”
The newspaper, quoting the same official, revealed that there were instructions for the Egyptian army elements to “stay away from this matter”, and also indicated that censorship was also activated on the Israeli side “to prevent publications that could provoke anger on the other side.”
This comes as Egypt and Israel are conducting separate investigations into the circumstances of the incident.
The newspaper says that there were fears that the relationship between Cairo and Tel Aviv would reach the point of collapse, but the two sides are not interested in a rupture and are working to end it.
The newspaper also revealed that immediately after the incident, Egyptian and Israeli military officials held secret consultations on the incident, and it was agreed “on the need to keep the matter confidential” and not to make statements to the media.
