An Egyptian soldier has been killed in an incident involving Egyptian and Israeli forces in the Rafah border area.
The Egyptian and Israeli armies are investigating what happened.
Israeli media say a gun battle took place, but there are few other details and no reports of Israeli casualties.
Tensions between Egypt and Israel have increased since Israeli forces took control of the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing three weeks ago as part of their offensive against Hamas.
Egypt is a strong supporter of the Palestinians and has condemned Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and Israel’s killing of thousands of civilians in the war.
Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace deal with Israel 45 years ago, and while the country has held out, relations between the two sides have often been frosty. However, fatal incidents between Egyptian and Israeli forces are rare.
Hours before the shooting, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry condemned an Israeli attack on Rafah that killed at least 45 people, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said. It accused Israel of “attacking defenseless civilians.”
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that two senior Hamas officials were killed in the attack and that it was reviewing reports that civilians had suffered damage as a result of the attack and the fire it sparked.
Like Israel, Egypt has maintained a blockade on the Gaza border since Hamas came to power in 2006. Hamas is an offshoot of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood organization, which is banned as a terrorist group in Egypt.
However, Egypt has kept channels open with Hamas and has acted as a mediator in occasional indirect talks between Israel and the group, in an effort to broker a ceasefire and release Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
