Egypt

Israeli ambassador returns to Cairo after vacation, activists call for new protest

Israeli Ambassador to Egypt Yitzhak Levanon returned to Cairo after a short visit to Tel Aviv today, while Egyptian activists called for a protest at the Israel Embassy against the construction of a cement barrier outside it.

News reports said on 20 August that the Israeli ambassador was not at the embassy when a wave of protests broke out there after five Egyptian security personnel were killed by Israel on Egypt's side of the border on 18 August. 

Protesters demanded expelling the ambassador and reviewing the Camp David Accords and all economic agreements with Israel. Protests were suspended on 27 August.

On Saturday, an Egyptian contracting company began building a barrier in front of the building that houses the embassy. The barrier is 100 meters long and three meters high and would replace an iron fence that protesters smashed last month.

The movements "I'm a Pro-Intifada Egyptian" and "Egyptian Unity" were among those calling for the new protest, scheduled for 4 pm on Tuesday.

In a statement, the movements said Turkey's recent decision to recall its ambassador to Israel and expel the Israeli ambassador in Turkey was a motivation.

The statement demanded halting construction of the barrier, expelling the ambassador, recalling the Egyptian ambassador to Israel, and breaking Israel's blockade of Gaza by permanently opening the Rafah border crossing.

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