Egyptians Storm Israeli Embassy

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has declared a state of alert and opened an emergency situation room after the Israeli Embassy in Cairo was stormed by hundreds of Egyptian protesters.

­The Israeli ambassador to Egypt, Yitzhak Levanon, together with his family and other embassy staff, has left Egypt and set off for Tel-Aviv.

They had been waiting to be evacuated by a military plane at Cairo airport. They refused to communicate with the press or leave the country on a regular flight for security reasons.

A group of protesters have reportedly managed to break into the Israeli Embassy. However, an Israeli official told Reuter that the embassy itself has not been breached.

Earlier a group of some 30 protesters broke into an apartment one floor below the embassy and started throwing piles of documents off the balcony.

Demonstrators destroyed a part of the wall around the building and pulled down the Israeli flag – for the second time in less than a month.

Protesters clashed with police outside the embassy and set fire to a police truck. They also reportedly tried to attack a nearby police station.

More than 215 Egyptians have been injured during the clashes outside the embassy building, Al-Arabiya network reports, citing the Health Ministry. Al-Jazeera report that the authorities were using tear-gas canisters in order to disperse the crowds.

Israeli officials stated that no embassy personnel have been injured.



The siege comes after the protests on Tahrir Square that broke out over the killing of five Egyptian solders in the Sinai district. Some demonstrators crossed the Nile into Giza to destroy the wall Egyptian authorities had built around the Israeli embassy. Egyptian police stood aside watching as protesters set about the concrete wall with hammers and large metal rods.

Tensions between the two countries, which flared up after the ousting of Hosni Mubarak, became even more heated in mid-August when five Egyptian border guards died in an Israeli security operation. The Israeli army, which was hunting down the gunmen it held responsible for shootings in southern Israel, reached the Sinai district.

After the incident, Egypt threatened to withdraw its ambassador from Tel Aviv. Israel ordered an investigation into the deaths of the Egyptian soldiers, but has not offered a full apology.

After knocking down the wall aimed at securing the Israeli Embassy building in Giza, Egyptian activists stormed the embassy’s archives late on Friday night and sent documents flying out the window. One image shows the embassy, or an archive apartment, on a high floor of the building, in flames.

It is unclear what exactly is happening, but reports from the area indicate the embassy has been breached and Egyptian protesters are destroying the place.

On Twitter, Egyptian activists have been going back and forth over the events throughout the evening, some supporting the action being taken, while others have argued it is not progressing the Egyptian revolution that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak.

Eye witnesses said clashes erupted outside the Israeli Embassy in Giza when Egyptian protesters tried to break the security cordon and security forces started beating people randomly. A health ministry official told Egypt’s state TV that at least 187 people have been injured in the clashes.

Others said the military personnel guarding the embassy fired tear gas at people in an attempt to disperse the crowds that had arrived.

Hundreds gathered outside the building where the embassy is located, chanting to expel the ambassador, who recently returned to work after a personal vacation.

Human rights activists and protesters accused the guards of using excessive force against them and chasing them away from the building.

A ministry of health official confirmed that at least 187 people were injured at the embassy, but nobody was in critical condition.

The clashes intensified after four Egyptians climbed up the building of the embassy and took down the Israeli flag for a second time in one month.

A military armored vehicle was set ablaze during the violence and the fire department was seen rushing to the scene to put it out while more military trucks were reported arriving to aid the security forces there.

Earlier on Friday a group of Egyptians protesters knocked down part of the wall that the government built last week to secure the building and protesters were seen with hammers and iron sticks breaking it down.