Israel ‘regrets’ deaths in Egypt

20 August 2011 Last updated at 10:21 ET

The Israeli defence minister has said he “regrets” the deaths of Egyptian policemen on the Gaza border after Cairo moved to recall its ambassador.

Without confirming Israeli forces had killed the five policemen, Ehud Barak said he had ordered a joint inquiry to be held along with the Egyptian army.

He said his forces had been pursuing militants who had carried out attacks against Israeli civilians.

In Cairo, angry crowds have been protesting outside the Israeli embassy.

Egyptian state TV said earlier that the country was recalling its ambassador to Israel until Israel explained why it had reportedly shot the policemen.

Demanding an apology, Egypt’s cabinet was quoted as saying Cairo held Israel politically and legally responsible and was summoning the Israeli ambassador.

The latest violence began on Thursday when gunmen attacked Israeli buses.

Eight people were killed in the attacks, near the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat.

Egyptian officials say Israeli forces chased the suspected militants across the border, and a number of people were killed – including the policemen.

Tensions between Israel and Egypt have escalated sharply, the BBC’s Yolande Knell reports from Jerusalem.

Their 30-year-old peace treaty was already being tested after the long-time Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak, was forced from office earlier this year, our correspondent says.

‘Erosion of order’

Speaking in Jerusalem, Mr Barak said he had held special consultations with the Israeli chief of staff and other intelligence officers.

“The [Eilat] attacks came from the Gaza Strip,” he said. “Most of the perpetrators were killed and the senior figures who ordered the terror attacks were targeted shortly afterwards.”

Emphasising the importance of the peace accord with Egypt, he said: “Israel regrets the death of Egyptian policemen during the terror attacks.”

He promised that, on the basis of the joint investigation, “appropriate conclusions” would be drawn.

Hundreds of Egyptians protested outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo overnight, burning the Israeli flag and demanding that the Israeli ambassador be expelled from the country. Protests were reportedly continuing on Saturday morning.

On Friday, in Egypt’s second city, Alexandria, a protester managed to take down the Israeli flag from the consulate there and replaced it with Egyptian and Palestinian flags.

After the initial Eilat attack, Israel expressed concern about security in the Sinai Peninsula.

But on Saturday the Egyptian cabinet denied losing control of the Sinai and demanded an apology from the Israeli leadership its initial “sad and hasty remarks about Egypt”, Egyptian state TV said.

“The cabinet assigns the Egyptian foreign minister to summon the Israeli ambassador in Cairo… in protest over shootings on the Israeli side of the border that led to deaths on the Egyptian side,” it said in a statement.

Egypt’s ambassador to Israel was being recalled, the cabinet said, “until we are notified about the results of an investigation by the Israeli authorities”.

Cairo said it regarded the attack as a breach of the 1979 peace treaty between the two nations, and blamed Israel for lax border controls.

Lawless region

Under Mr Mubarak, ties between the two nations had been stable after a history of conflict.

But Mr Mubarak’s ousting in a popular uprising has sparked fears among Israeli officials that a less amenable government could take charge in Cairo.

And correspondents say the Sinai desert region of Egypt has become increasingly lawless since Mr Mubarak was ousted, with a rise in militant activity inspired by al-Qaeda.

Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme on Friday, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev warned there had been an “erosion of law and order in some parts of Sinai in the last few weeks”.

Since Thursday’s attacks, Israeli aircraft have repeatedly attacked targets in the Gaza Strip, while Palestinian militants have fired more than 20 rockets into Israel.

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