CAIRO, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Egypt said Israel has apologized for the deaths of six members of Egyptian security forces near the Sinai border in August.

The Jerusalem Post said the Egyptian daily al-Ahram reported the Egyptian Foreign Ministry confirmed the apology for the killing of the soldiers near the southern border with Sinai.


The confirmation Wednesday came hours after the announcement that Israel and Hamas had approved a deal in which more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners would be released in exchange for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held captive more than five years in the Gaza Strip, Al Ahram reported.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said Israel's apology came in response to a request from the Egyptian government and included condolences from Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak to families of the Egyptian soldiers who were killed Aug. 18.

Israel has said it was targeting militants who had killed eight Israelis when the Egyptian soldiers were killed.

Egypt accused Israeli forces of of shooting into Egypt in violation of the country's sovereignty and demanded an apology.

The Israel Defense Forces investigated and concluded it was possible some of the soldiers were killed in an exchange of fire between IDF troops and members of a terrorist cell shooting into Israel from the Sinai Peninsula.

"The lessons were learned from the probe to prevent similar attacks in the future and to improve security along the border," Barak's office said in a statement. "Due to the findings from the probe, Defense Minister Barak decided to apologize for the death of each policeman who was killed by Israeli fire."