Security forces on Sunday allowed citizens to pass down Ibn Malek street, in which the Israeli Embassy is located, for the first time in 20 years without taking the normal security measures.
Citizens were allowed to access the street for a period of 24 hours, after which it was closed again on Monday and security procedures were re-imposed.
Residents of Ibn Malek Street normally undergo body searches before entering the street, and visitors are required to get permits 24 hours ahead of arrival.
The area surrounding the Israeli Embassy in Giza has been calm for the past two days, after fierce rioting by anti-Israeli protesters on Friday and Saturday.
On Friday night, hundreds of protesters tried to storm the 22-story building housing the Israeli Embassy. Some 130 persons were arrested by Egypt's military troops and police on charges of rioting, the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram reported.
On Sunday, Giza Governorate workers removed the remains of a wall constructed outside the embassy by the Egyptian authorities, but which had been largely destroyed by protesters.
Mohamed Hussein, 30, an accountant working in a company near from the embassy, said opening Ibn Malek Street is thought of as the recovery of a small part of Egypt's dignity. He said the street should be opened on a permanent basis “because it’s an Egyptian street. Egyptians should pass through it freely.”
Translated from the Arabic Edition
