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Israel withdraws envoy to Egypt over security concerns

Israeli Ambassador to Cairo David Govrin

Israel's internal spy agency, Shin Bet, says the regime has temporarily withdrawn its ambassador to Egypt, citing security concerns in the North African country.

"Due to security considerations the return of the foreign ministry embassy staff to Cairo has been restricted," the agency said in a statement released on Tuesday without elaborating on when the pull-out took place.

However, Britain's Daily Telegraph said Israel's ambassador to Cairo, David Govrin, had been pulled out of the diplomatic mission at the end of last year.

According to the report, the envoy is currently working from Jerusalem al-Quds while Tel Aviv hopes that he will be able to return to his post soon.

Egypt has been wracked by a series of terror attacks.

A Daesh-affiliated militant group operating in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula has recently stepped up its assaults, taking advantage of the chaos created following the ouster of the country’s first democratically-elected president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

Sinai is situated in the northeastern extremity of Egypt and adjoins the occupied territories and the blockaded Gaza Strip on the east.

Earlier this month, the militant group claimed responsibility for firing rockets toward the city of Eilat in Israeli-occupied territories from Sinai, an attack which Tel Aviv said caused no damage or casualties.

Israeli embassy raid

On September 9, 2011, Egyptian demonstrators stormed the Israeli embassy compound in Cairo in protest at the killing of five Egyptian security guards by Israeli forces pursuing militants who had ambushed and killed eight Israelis along the border.

Egyptian soldiers and policemen stand by the Israeli embassy in Cairo, Egypt, September 9, 2011, as hundreds of protesters demolish part of the concrete wall around the mission. (Photo by AP)

After several hours, six Israeli security guards stuck inside the embassy building were rescued.

The Israeli mission reopened in September 2015 after four years of closure. 


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