An Egyptian police officer has refused orders to go on guard duty at the Israeli embassy in Cairo, and faces a disciplinary committee over his action, security sources said on Wednesday.

The sources said the officer had gone on hunger strike over the matter, and had been admitted to a Cairo hospital three days ago where he remained in serious condition.

Police sources said the man was expected to be referred to a military tribunal for refusing to follow orders, but the disciplinary committee had delayed a decision on that over his health. They said the officer had refused his orders earlier this year, but did not say when he began the hunger strike.

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Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab state to sign a peace deal with Israel, but many Egyptians still regard the Jewish state as an enemy because the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict has not been resolved.