Egypt’s Sisi Discusses Border Shooting with Netanyahu, Emphasizes Investigation Cooperation 

Israeli soldiers are pictured at the gate of the Mount Harif military base near the city of Mitzpe Ramon in Israel's southern Negev desert, adjacent to the border with Egypt, on June 3, 2023. (AFP)
Israeli soldiers are pictured at the gate of the Mount Harif military base near the city of Mitzpe Ramon in Israel's southern Negev desert, adjacent to the border with Egypt, on June 3, 2023. (AFP)
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Egypt’s Sisi Discusses Border Shooting with Netanyahu, Emphasizes Investigation Cooperation 

Israeli soldiers are pictured at the gate of the Mount Harif military base near the city of Mitzpe Ramon in Israel's southern Negev desert, adjacent to the border with Egypt, on June 3, 2023. (AFP)
Israeli soldiers are pictured at the gate of the Mount Harif military base near the city of Mitzpe Ramon in Israel's southern Negev desert, adjacent to the border with Egypt, on June 3, 2023. (AFP)

Egypt's President Abdelfattah al-Sisi received a telephone call from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss latest border shooting in which three Israeli soldiers were killed, Egypt's presidency said in a statement on Tuesday.

Sisi and Netanyahu emphasized the importance of coordination on investigating the incident, according to the statement.

Egypt says it is working with Israel to investigate the incident which occurred on Saturday.

"We will refresh procedures and methods of operations and also the measures to reduce to a minimum the smuggling and to ensure tragic terrorist attacks like this do not happen again," Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday.

The frontier is usually peaceful, as the neighbors share security cooperation, though there are frequent reports of drug smuggling, including one that took place prior to the deadly violence.

On Saturday, the Egyptian military said the three Israelis and Egyptian guard had been killed in an exchange of fire as the guard chased smugglers across the frontier.

Two Egyptian sources said on Sunday that a team was examining the scene and the guard's body to determine how events transpired. Coworkers and family members of the Egyptian guard have been interviewed to figure out if he belonged to any political groups or suffered from mental illness, they said.

Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel and they share a more than 200-km (124-mile) long border.



France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
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France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)

Paris declined to comment on Algeria’s “strong condemnation” of the French government’s decision to recognize Morocco’s claim over the Sahara.

The office of the French Foreign Ministry refused to respond to an AFP request for a comment on the Algeria’s stance.

It did say that further comments could impact the trip Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is set to make to France in late September or early October.

The visit has been postponed on numerous occasions over disagreements between the two countries.

France had explicitly expressed its constant and clear support for the autonomy rule proposal over the Sahara during Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne’s visit to Morocco in February, reported AFP.

The position has helped improve ties between Rabat and Paris.

On Thursday, the Algerian Foreign Ministry expressed “great regret and strong denunciation" about the French government's decision to recognize an autonomy plan for the Western Sahara region "within Moroccan sovereignty”.

Algeria was informed of the decision by France in recent days, an Algerian foreign ministry statement added.

The ministry also said Algeria would draw all the consequences from the decision and hold the French government alone completely responsible.