Egyptians break into Israeli embassy in Cairo

Interior ministry declares state of alert and prime minister summons cabinet crisis team to discuss the situation.

Al-Jazeera

COMMENT:

I am so proud of the Egyptian youth! They remind me of how the Palestinians used to be.

"Israel's embassy in Cairo has been stormed by protesters who tore down one of the outer embassy walls and threw thousands of documents from the embassy's windows.

The angry Egyptians also replaced the neighbouring country's flag with their own after breaking in on Friday night.

In response, the Egyptian prime minister summoned the cabinet crisis team to discuss the situation, and the interior ministry declared a state of alert.

Hundreds of Egyptian soldiers backed by armoured cars were rushed to the embassy district and clashed with the protesters who torched police trucks and attacked regional police headquarters nearby.....

Flight of Israeli envoy

The Israeli ambassador to Egypt has reportedly boarded a flight at the Cairo airport bound for Tel Aviv, along with his family and 70 other embassy workers.

US President Barack Obama was first to react, calling on Egypt to protect the embassy and "to honor its international obligations to safeguard the security of the Israeli Embassy,"

A White House statement said that "the President expressed his great concern about the situation at the embassy, and the security of the Israelis serving there".

The statement said that Obama spoke by telephone to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the two agreed “to stay in close touch until the situation is resolved."

Embassy wall damaged

The incident began with around 1,000 people attacking a wall recently built outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo to protect the building.

Using hammers and a large metal bar, the protesters managed to partially destroy the wall, about two metres high.

Last month, Egyptians staged huge protests outside the embassy and called for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador over the border deaths of Egyptian policemen killed as Israel hunted a group of attackers.

Egypt has asked Israel for an official apology and demanded a probe into the deaths of the five policemen."