Egypt walls off Israeli embassy in Cairo

Egyptian has erected a 2.5m high concrete wall around Israel's embassy in the city of Giza, in the western suburbs of Cairo, amid escalating tensions between the two countries. The governor of Giza, Ali Abd El Rahman, has denied the wall is to protect the Israeli mission, saying that it is for the protection of the residents of the high-rise building in which the embassy is located.

Footage of construction workers painting the wall in the colours of the Egyptian flag has been screened on Egyptian state television while graffiti later appeared saying "The people want the fall of the wall".

Since the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak in February, Egypt's relations with Israel have deteriorated. They worsened considerably after five Egyptian soldiers were shot dead by Israeli troops on the border between Israeli and Egypt on 18 August, during a series of cross-border attacks by militants. Egypt said that the deaths of the five Egyptians contravened its 1979 peace treaty with Israel, and on 25 August a joint enquiry was launched by both countries.

In the aftermath of the killings, thousands protested for days outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo, with one demonstrator managing to scale the building and remove the Israeli flag. Local newspapers reported that the protester was later rewarded by an Egyptian provincial governor with a job, a new home and a medal.