Sisi, PM commit to probe border attack
Halevi: Results of incident were ‘difficult’
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi expressed his condolences for the deaths of three Israeli soldiers on Saturday at the hands of an Egyptian police officer, in a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.
Netanyahu thanked Sisi for his remarks, as well as his commitment to a joint investigation of the attack.
“The two leaders expressed their commitment to continue strengthening the peace and security cooperation that is vital to both countries,” the Prime Minister’s Office stated.
Sisi’s spokesman, Ahmed Fahmy, confirmed the call was about the shooting, and that Sisi stressed the importance of coordination in the investigation, as well as the need to continue bilateral relations, and called for a just and comprehensive peace in the region, according to Arabic media.
Israel returned the body of Mohammed Salah, 22, the police officer who murdered the IDF soldiers, to Egypt on Monday.
Salah shot and killed Sgt. Lia Ben-Nun and St.-Sgt. Uri Itzhak Ilouz at their guard post on the Egyptian border, apparently by surprise, on Saturday. An officer found their bodies after he was unable to reach them via radio.
IDF troops tracked down Salah following a search, when he shot and killed St.-Sgt. Ohad Dahan in an exchange of fire in which another soldier was wounded.
The IDF found six magazines for Salah’s rifle, two combat knives and a Koran on his person.
Members of Salah’s family were detained for questioning on Monday, BBC Arabic reported. A relative said that Salah sought to avenge the death of an Egyptian soldier at Israel’s hands, though no such incident was known to have occurred in recent years.
The Egyptian Army initially claimed that Salah was chasing drug smugglers, while Israel has characterized the shooting as part of a terrorist attack.
Netanyahu said on Sunday that “Israel sent a clear message to the government of Egypt: We expect the joint investigation to be thorough. This is part of our important security cooperation that has existed for the good of the two countries for years.
“We will draw all the necessary conclusions in relation
to our actions along the southern border, the Israel-Egypt border,” he added. “We will refresh the rules, the plans of action and the means, in order to reduce smuggling to a minimum and to ensure that tragic terrorist attacks such as these will not occur again.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the investigation into the killing would be completed on Sunday. During a visit to the Egyptian border, he said the results of the incident were “difficult. Our job [as commanders] is to do everything so that this will not repeat itself... which includes how we... plan the missions and build the surrounding infrastructure” and strategy for Egyptian border soldiers to follow.
to this report.