An Egyptian soldier has been killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli troops near the Rafah border area with the Gaza Strip, Egypt's armed forces said on Monday.
This was announced by the spokesman of the Egyptian military on Monday.
It is the first publicly known fatality in the ranks of the Egyptian military since the start of the Gaza war almost eight months ago.
The situation at the Rafah border crossing has become increasingly tense. Israeli troops recently took control of the crossing on the Palestinian side as well as a border strip between Egypt and Gaza.