The Israeli flag was removed from the Israeli Embassy in Giza early Sunday morning, after a demonstrator scaled the building and replaced it with the Egyptian flag. Since Friday, large crowds have gathered outside the Israeli embassy demanding retribution for the lives of Egyptians killed by the Israeli military in an incident on the Egyptian-Israeli border. Crowds chanted “lift your head up you are Egyptian," as demonstrator Ahmed El Shehata switched the flags around 2 am Sunday morning. Protestors also demanded the expulsion of the Israeli diplomatic mission to Egypt present since 1980, and the closure of the embassy. The embassy is located in Giza's Anas bin Malik Al Nahda Square since it moved in 1994 from the Cairo neighborhood of Maadi. After Shehata reached the crowds, demonstrators formed a human shield around the young Ahmed Shehata and chanted to prevent his arrest and burned the Israeli flag. Demonstrators escorted an ambulance transporting Shehata, who was accompanied by the Islamic preacher Dr. Safwat Hegazy, who told protestors that Shehata “suffered some fatigue because of the effort he made."
