AL-ARISH: The bodies of 30 Egyptian soldiers believed killed in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War were found in a mass grave in the Sinai desert close to the Israeli border on Wednesday, a security source said.
The uniformed bodies were exhumed near Sheikh Zuayed between the Mediterranean coastal city of Al-Arish and the Egypt-Gaza border town of Rafah after a Bedouin informed police of the discovery.
Forensic experts must examine the remains to establish whether they were buried after being killed in combat or executed, the source said, adding that the bodies “probably dated from the 1967 Six Day War.
The Sinai peninsula was the scene of fighting between Egypt and Israel in wars in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973. Egypt became the first Arab nation to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s parliamentary defense and national security committee is to meet next week to ask the government to investigate the recent discovery of bodies believed to be of Egyptian soldiers in the Israeli resort of Eilat.
Egyptian media reported that the bodies found during construction work in Eilat, on the Red Sea next to Egypt, were also wearing uniforms and were found with pages of the Quran.
Egypt asked the International Committee of the Red Cross in April to launch an inquiry into claims made in a documentary that Israeli troops executed Egyptian prisoners during the 1967 war.
The documentary , screened on Israeli public television, said that 250 Egyptian PoWs were killed by Israel’s Shaked commando near Al-Arish during the conflict.
The director of the film subsequently said he had mistakenly identified Palestinian fighters who were killed in combat as Egyptian prisoners. -AFP
