Egypt vows to recall its envoy to Israel

Egypt has decided to withdraw its ambassador to Tel Aviv over the killing of several Egyptian military personnel during an attack by Israeli forces.

“Egypt has decided to withdraw its ambassador to Israel until there is an official apology,” Egypt’s state television said on Saturday, AFP reported.

The decision comes as angry Egyptians have continued their protest rallies outside the Israeli embassy in the capital Cairo, calling on authorities to cut ties with the Tel Aviv regime and expel its ambassador.

The protesters stayed out through Friday night and clashed with security forces that resorted to force for dispersing demonstrators.

“This protest will not end as long as the Israeli embassy still has a place in Egypt. We will not leave here until they do, and if that fails, we will go back to Tahrir,” a protester said, referring to the square which was the epicenter of the uprising that led to the downfall of Egypt’s former dictator Hosni Mubarak, who was a staunch ally of the US and Israel.

The Israeli regime launched massive airstrikes in Gaza and the border area with Egypt on Thursday after eight Israelis were killed in an attack on a bus near the town of Eilat in southern Israel, near the Egyptian border.

At least 16 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in the past two days.

The death toll for Egypt’s military personnel climbed to five on Friday afternoon after two officers that were wounded in the Israeli strike succumbed to death in a hospital, Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.