CAIRO: Egypt’s military said Monday a border guard was killed in a shooting in the Rafah border area with Gaza, where Israeli forces are deployed, adding that a probe had been launched.
“The Egyptian armed forces, through the competent authorities, are investigating a shooting incident in the Rafah border area which led to the martyrdom of a guard,” a military statement said.
The Israeli military reported a “shooting incident” on the Egyptian border, and said it was discussing the incident with Egypt.
Since May 7 Israeli forces have been operating in Rafah, a city in the far south of the Gaza Strip bordering Egypt.
Since the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7, Egypt has been keen both to remain in solidarity with the Palestinians and retain its ties with Israel.
Egypt was in 1979 the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Egypt.
Cairo fears domestic repercussions over the war, and tensions have soared since Israeli forces seized the Rafah border crossing, a key entry point for humanitarian aid.
A day after the war began in October, a policeman in Egypt’s second city Alexandria opened fire on an Israeli tour group, killing two Israeli tourists and their Egyptian guide.
In a previous shooting, in June 2023, Israel said an Egyptian policeman crossed the border and killed three Israeli soldiers before being himself shot dead.
The Egyptian army said at the time the three Israelis were killed in a firefight by a member of the Egyptian security forces who had crossed the border “in pursuit of drug traffickers.”
Egypt military says guard killed in ‘shooting’ at Rafah border
https://arab.news/vrmpu
Egypt military says guard killed in ‘shooting’ at Rafah border
- The Israeli military reported a “shooting incident” on the Egyptian border, and said it was discussing the incident with Egypt
Soleimani warned Al-Assad about ‘spy’ Luna Al-Shibl: Al-Majalla
LONDON: The late Iranian General Qassem Soleimani confronted Syria’s National Security Bureau chief Ali Mamlouk in late 2019 after seeing Luna Al-Shibl leaving his office. Al-Majalla magazine claims its reporters reviewed a document containing the full Arabic transcript of their exchange.
Soleimani reportedly asked, “Who is this?” and Mamlouk replied, “She is Louna Al-Shibl, the president’s adviser.”
The Quds Force commander pressed further: “I know, I know… but who is she really? Where did she work?”
According to Al-Majalla, a sister publication of Arab News, he said her former salary was “ten thousand dollars,” compared with her current salary of “five hundred thousand Syrian pounds,” before asking: “Does it make sense for someone to leave ten thousand dollars for five hundred thousand pounds? She is a spy.”
Both Soleimani and Maher Al-Assad, commander of the Syrian army’s powerful Fourth Division, had warned the ousted president’s inner circle about Al-Shibl, Al-Majalla reported.
‘Suspicious’ car crash
On July 2, 2024, Al-Shibl was involved in what officials described as a traffic accident on the Damascus-Dimas highway. She was hospitalized and died four days later.
But Al-Majalla reported that photos of her armored BMW showed only minor damage, raising immediate questions among those close to the case.
Eyewitnesses told the magazine that the crash was intentional. One said, “a car approached and rammed her vehicle,” and before her bodyguard could exit, “a man attacked her and struck her on the back of the head,” causing paralysis that led to her death.
She was first taken to Al-Saboura clinic, then transferred to Al-Shami Hospital. Several senior regime-linked figures, including businessman Mohammed Hamsho and an aide to Maher Al-Assad, were present when her condition deteriorated. One witness told Al-Majalla that when her bodyguard tried to explain what had happened, “he was arrested immediately in front of the others.”
The presidency later issued a brief statement announcing her death. Her funeral was attended only by a handful of officials. Then president Al-Assad did not attend.
