Egypt officer shot by Israeli forces dies from injuries

Israeli troops patrol the area on the border between Israel and Egypt, north of
the Red Sea town of Eilat in August 2011. [AFP/Menahem Kahana, File]

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- An Egyptian police officer shot by Israeli forces near the Egyptian border in August died from his injuries on Saturday, a rights group said.

Egyptian Federation of Human Rights chairman Nadeeb Jubrail said he was informed by the military hospital in Cairo that Imad Abdul Malak had died.

Malak was driving the car in which a police officer and four soldiers were killed on August 18 as Israeli troops pursued suspects in a deadly attack that killed eight Israelis.

After the killings Egypt demanded an apology from Israel while huge protests erupted outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo.

Ties between Egypt and Israel, which have been bound by a peace treaty since 1979, have entered a period of turbulence since the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak by a popular uprising in February.

Relations worsened this weekend after protesters stormed Israel's embassy in Cairo, prompting an evacuation of staff and the departure of ambassador Yitzhak Levanon.

The Israeli government said Levanon would return to Egypt only after security could be guaranteed.

The attack, in which crowds smashed through an external security wall, tossed embassy papers from balconies and tore down the Israeli flag, was the worst since Israel set up its mission in Egypt after the 1979 treaty.

Maan News Agency