Egyptian, Israeli defence ministers discuss deadly border shootout

Egyptian Minister of Defence and Military Production Mohamed Zaki and his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant discussed the deadly shootout that left three Israeli soldiers and one Egyptian policeman dead. During a phone conversation, the two ministers also discussed joint coordination to take the necessary measures to prevent such incidents in the future, the Egyptian Armed Forces said on Saturday in a statement. Zaki extended condolences to the victims of the incident from both sides, Xinhua news agency reported. Earlier on Saturday, three Israeli soldiers and a member of Egyptian security forces were killed in a shootout along the border between the two countries. The Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement that the assailant who killed the three soldiers was an Egyptian policeman. The Egyptian Army said that three Israeli soldiers and a member of Egyptian security forces were killed earlier on Saturday in a shootout during a pursuit of drug smugglers by the Egyptian security personnel near the border with Israel. Such confrontations along the Israel-Egypt border are rare as the two countries have maintained close security ties under a peace agreement signed by the two sides in 1979. The Israeli military frequently carry out search-and-arrest operations on the common border to prevent drug and weapons smuggling. In 2014, Israel completed the construction of a 242-km barrier along the shared border with Egypt, in an attempt to stop illegal immigration from African countries into Israel.