Egypt holds military funeral for soldier killed during 1967 war

The Egyptian army held a military funeral for a soldier 57 years after he went missing in action in the Sinai Peninsula during the 1967 war with Israel.

The remains of the soldier, identified as Fawzy Mohammed Abdel-Muwla, were discovered by coincidence along with his personal belongings and  identification papers, by a company operating in the Al-Hasaana area, in North Sinai province, in July this year, local news outlets reported over the weekend. 

Abdel-Muwla's family recognised copies of his identification papers posted on social media which were found along with his body, prompting his younger brother to go to the Ministry of Defence, which later ordered a DNA test on the remains and found them to be a match. 

No further details were revealed about the cause of death or how his body was found. 

The 1967 Arab-Israeli War, which lasted only six days, ended with Israel defeating Egypt, Jordan, and Syria and occupying the West Bank, Gaza, the Syrian Golan Heights, and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

Sinai was later returned to Egypt following the 1979 Camp David peace agreement.

The Egyptian soldier was almost 20 at the time he died, and was engaged to be married.

Abdel-Muwla's remains were buried last week in the family's cemetery located in Al-Dekheila nearAlexandria, following an official military funeral attended by senior army commanders.

Pictures of the funeral went circulated widely online as Egyptian social media activists commended "the heroism and the sacrifice of the martyr who died defending his homeland" against Israel.   

Despite a peace with Israel since the late 1970s, the Egyptian public has long been opposed to normalisation with Israel and supportive of the Palestinian cause.

Tensions have skyrocketed after Israel launched its onslaught on the neighbouring Palestinian Gaza Strip in October last year, killing over 41,000 Palestinians.