An Egyptian soldier was killed during an exchange of fire with Israeli forces at the Rafah crossing on Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip on Monday.
Kan, Israel's public broadcaster, reported that no Israeli soldiers were injured in the incident, which left one Egyptian soldier dead and others wounded.
The Israeli military stated, "A few hours ago, there was a shooting incident on the Egyptian border. The incident is under investigation, and dialogue is taking place with the Egyptian side."
Egypt's military confirmed the death of one soldier and announced it is investigating the shooting.
Daily News Egypt, an independent English-language Egyptian newspaper, cited unnamed sources suggesting that Egyptian soldiers were "affected" by the Rafah massacre on Sunday, where an Israeli bombing resulted in the deaths of 45 Palestinians at a displacement camp.
Middle East Eye reported that it could not independently verify these accounts. The circumstances leading to the exchange of fire remain unclear. According to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, an independent Qatar-based news website, the Egyptian soldier was killed by sniper fire, as per a security source who claimed that the Egyptian side did not shoot first. In contrast, the Israeli public broadcaster asserted that the Egyptian side fired first and Israeli soldiers acted in self-defense.
The Rafah border crossing was seized by Israeli forces earlier this month amid the military's ground invasion of Gaza, extending into the southern city of Rafah. This occupation has escalated tensions between Egypt and Israel, jeopardizing 45 years of peace following four wars between the two nations.
The Israeli takeover of the crossing has angered Egypt, which usually cooperates closely on security matters with Israel. An Egyptian military source previously informed Middle East Eye that there had been "no operational coordination" between Egypt and Israel before the crossing was seized.
In response, Egypt deployed additional armored personnel carriers and soldiers to its border with Gaza in northeastern Sinai, as reported by the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights. Cairo has also refused to open the border crossing from the Egyptian side until the Israeli military withdraws, asserting that the operation of the crossing is an exclusively Egyptian-Palestinian matter.