Israel ‘s embassy in Cairo under attack

Egyptian police used tear gas to disperse the crowd, the Press TV correspondent in Cairo reported on Friday.

Egyptian police used tear gas to disperse the crowd, the Press TV correspondent in Cairo reported on Friday.

One person died due to asphyxiation after inhaling tear gas, and about 450 demonstrators were injured, medical personnel said.

The demonstrators threw documents out the windows of the embassy building and also torched a police car.

The crowd managed to break into the embassy building despite the presence of heavily armed Egyptian security forces in the area.

Gunfire was also heard near the embassy.
Israel’s Channel 10 News reported that after bringing down the wall, the protesters managed to overcome all the heavy security around the 21-storey building which houses the Israeli Embassy and were even able to climb onto the floor on which the embassy is located.

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The Associated Press reported that just before midnight local time, a group of protesters reached a room on one of the embassyโ€™s lower floors at the top of the building and began dumping Hebrew-language documents from the windows.

An Israeli official confirmed in a conversation with AP the embassy had been broken into, saying it appeared the group reached a waiting room on the lower floor. IDF Army Radio reported that there were no embassy employees in the building at the time of the break-in.

Both Channel 10 and Army Radio reported that, just as they did last month, the protesters also tore down the Israeli flag from the building.

Channel 10 noted that the Egyptian security forces let the protesters do as they please after being pelted with stones when they tried to stop them. There were varying reports as to how many people were injured in the clashes that broke out and the numbers were ranging from 55 injuries to as many as 187. No Israelis, however, were injured.

The protesters had marched to the embassy from Cairoโ€™s Tahrir Square, where thousands more demonstrated Friday against the pace of reform under the countryโ€™s military rulers.

The security wall that was destroyed was put up just last week to protect the embassy following recent demonstrations outside the building and anti-Israeli calls that were made in Egypt.

There was recently an unconfirmed report that a protester had fired at the embassy building. The same day, a Muslim Brotherhood cleric called on Egyptians to murder all Israelis in the country.

A protester tore down the Israeli flag at the embassy, to the cheers of thousands of demonstrators on the scene.

Last month, another Egyptian protester became a national hero after he climbed up the wall of the Israeli embassy, took down the Israeli flag, and hoisted an Egyptian flag in its place during a demonstration held to condemn Israel for killing a number of Egyptian policemen on the border.

Five Egyptian border police officers were killed on August 18 in an attack by Israeli forces.

On Friday, the Egyptian demonstrators also called for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and chanted anti-Israeli slogans.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Egyptians once again gathered at the iconic Liberation Square in Cairo to demand that the military government hand over power to a civilian administration. The protesters gathered in the square after Friday prayers to participate in the “Correcting the Path” demonstration.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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