Egypt, 'Israel' are quick to cooperate after border operation
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The Egyptian president and Israeli Prime Minister were both quick to ensure the maintenance of "ties" after the border operation was carried out against Israeli occupation soldiers.
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An ambulance rushes out of a military base following a deadly shootout in southern Israel along the Egyptian border, Saturday, June 3, 2023. (AP)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Israeli Occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made commitments to maintain relations on Tuesday after the recent border operation carried out by Egyptian martyr Mohammad Salah Ibrahim.
Al-Sisi received a phone call from Netanyahu about Saturday's operation, the spokesperson for the Egyptian president reported. During the conversation, the two parties stressed "the importance of coordination between the two countries to clarify the circumstances", he said.
Egypt released a statement saying that Salah crossed into "Israel" while chasing drug smugglers, which led to an exchange of fire with Israeli occupation forces.
On the other hand, Netanyahu called the Egyptian martyr a "terrorist" on Saturday, although he has since mostly spoken of the operation as an "incident". That said, with no word on the martyr, Sisi offered Netanyahu his "deep condolences", according to the Israeli Prime Minister's office.
Who is Mohammad Salah Ibrahim?
The Egyptian conscript, Mohammad Salah Ibrahim, 23, from Ain Shams, east of Cairo, was performing his military service in the Sinai region.
Ibrahim was supposed to end his military service, according to press reports quoting those close to him. Tweeters revealed that his friends used to call him an artist for his hobby of drawing, noting that he loved "traveling, trips and reading", and was calm and popular among his colleagues.
The Egyptian authorities did not reveal the identity of the young man and did not post his picture. He was only described as a "security figure" who was killed "during the pursuit of drug smuggling elements."
Read next: Egypt border shooting showed failure of Israeli security system: Media
During the Israeli aggression on Gaza in May 2021, Ibrahim wrote on his Facebook page, "God stands by Palestine." The investigation into the shootout that took place at the Palestinian-Egyptian border on Saturday shows that the Egyptian policeman had laid out his plan by virtue of his work as an Egyptian border guard officer, Israeli media said on Sunday.
The probe into the incident that killed three Israeli soldiers, Israeli news website i24News reported, showed that the Egyptian officer had two knives and used one of them to cut the fence on the emergency crossing designated for the passage of the occupation forces when needed to the Egyptian side, using it to cross into occupied Palestine. After his death, it was discovered that there was a Quran on his person.
