Israel's foreign ministry on Friday summoned the Egyptian ambassador after statements by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, who said the peace treaty between the two states is "not sacred", Israeli website Ynet reported.

Foreign Ministry Director General Rafi Barak summoned Ambassador Yasser Reda to express Israel's "irritation over the recurrent calls from senior Egyptian officials over the need for modification to the peace treaty," Ynet reported.

Hundreds of people gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square Friday to protest against the recent expansion of the emergency law, amid palpable anger over the military's handling of transition from autocratic rule.

Last week the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) widened the scope of the emergency law -- restricted in 2010 by ousted president Hosni Mubarak to narcotics and terrorism -- to strikes, traffic disruption and the spreading of rumors.

Egypt's Prime Minister Essam Sharaf said on Thursday that the 1979 peace treaty with Israel "is not sacred," state-run MENA news agency reported, quoting remarks he made in an interview with Turkish television.

"The Camp David treaty is always open to discussion or for modification if that is beneficial for the region and for a just peace. The peace treaty is not something sacred and there can be changes made to it," MENA quoted Sharaf as saying.

A Cairo court sentenced an Egyptian steel tycoon associated with the regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak and a fugitive former minister to jail on Thursday in corruption trials.

Ahmed Ezz, a senior member of Mubarak's National Democratic Party and the country's top steel magnate was sentenced to 10 years and fined 660 million Egyptian pounds ($110 million dollars).

Egypt's ex-intelligence chief Omar Suleiman testified on Tuesday in the trial of former president Hosni Mubarak who faces charges of involvement in the killings of protesters, state television said.

There were no further details about the testimony which was held behind closed doors.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned in comments published Tuesday that Syria could plunge into "civil war," as he began a tour of Arab countries where uprisings ousted autocratic leaders.

"I fear that matters will end with a civil war breaking out between the Alawites and the Sunnis," Erdogan said in an interview published by Egypt's independent al-Shourouk as he began his tour in Cairo.

The satellite channel Al-Jazeera Egypt said on Sunday the authorities had prevented it from broadcasting, after entering its offices and confiscating transmission equipment.

Ahmed Zain, the channel's chief in Cairo, told Agence France Presse that police, officers from the culture ministry and representatives of Egypt's public broadcaster had also seized materials and that one technician was arrested.

The testimony of Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Egypt's military ruler, as a witness at the trial of former president Hosni Mubarak has been postponed to September 24, judicial sources said Sunday.

Tantawi, who is the de facto head of state since the fall of Mubarak to a popular uprising in February, faced a last minute difficulty which made him unavailable to testify as scheduled on Sunday, the sources said.

Israeli officials called on Sunday for relations with Egypt to return to normal despite Friday's attack by a mob on Israel's embassy in Cairo.

"We shall do everything in order that relations between the two countries will return to normal," Environment Minister Gilad Erdan, considered close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told public radio.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his country's commitment to peace with Egypt on Saturday, after a mob attacked Israel's embassy in Cairo.

"We are committed to preserving peace with Egypt, which is in the interest of Egypt and Israel," Netanyahu said in a radio address.