Protesters set fire to a police vehicle outside the buildingBBC News
9 September 2011
Last updated at 23:26 ET
Protesters have broken into the building housing Israel's embassy in Egypt's capital, Cairo, entering consular offices, officials said.
Police used tear gas and gunshots were heard nearby. The ambassador has been taken to Cairo airport to be flown out of the country.
US President Barack Obama urged Egypt to protect the embassy after Israel asked Washington for help.
The mission has seen protests amid a downturn in Egypt-Israel relations.
The unrest began after Friday prayers, when thousands converged on Cairo's Tahrir Square to demand faster political reforms following the ousting of former President Hosni Mubarak in February.
Later hundreds marched on the Israeli embassy. They destroyed a wall around the building, before a group of about 30 broke in and threw documents out of windows.
Reuters news agency quoted an Israeli official in Jerusalem as saying that the documents appeared to be "pamphlets and forms kept at the foyer". Egypt's state media said some of the documents were marked confidential.
An Israeli official told the BBC the intruders had entered consular offices, but not the main embassy.
After initially standing by, police moved against the protesters, firing tear gas. Several vehicles were set alight.
Live TV pictures in the early hours of Saturday showed protesters throwing petrol bombs at police vans which drove at a crowd of people to try to scatter them.
Shots were heard in the area but it is not clear who fired them. There are reports a police station near the embassy was raided by protesters.
Egyptian state media said about 200 people had been injured in the unrest.
The BBC's Hamada Abuqamar in Cairo says the protesters want the embassy to be shut down.
A statement from the office of Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said he had spoken with his US counterpart Leon Panetta and had "asked them to protect the embassy from the demonstrators".
President Obama appealed to Egypt to honour its international obligations and protect the mission, the White House said in a statement.
Israeli ambassador Yitzhak Levanon, his family and other embassy officials have been flown out of the country on board a military plane, Egyptian state TV reported.
Reuters said Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf had summoned his cabinet crisis team while the interior ministry put police forces on alert.
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