Cairo, Egypt — Two Israeli tourists and one Egyptian were killed Sunday by a policeman in Egypt, local media and Israeli authorities said, as war rages for a second day between the neighboring country and Hamas.
The policeman fired “at random” at an Israeli tour group visiting Alexandria using “his personal weapon”, the state-affiliated private television Extra News said quoting a security source.
A fourth person was wounded and the policeman was “immediately arrested”, it added.
The Israeli foreign ministry confirmed the deaths in a statement.
“This morning during a visit of Israeli tourists in Alexandria, Egypt, a local opened fire at them, murdering two Israeli citizens and their Egyptian guide,” it reads.
“In addition, there is a wounded Israeli in moderate condition.”
The deaths come as fighting rages after Palestinian militants on Saturday launched a multi-pronged attack on Israel, which has declared war on Hamas and launched air strikes on Gaza.
Egypt was the first Arab country to forge a peace deal with Israel in 1979, and has long served as a key intermediary between Israel and the Palestinians.
However, despite the diplomatic relations, Israel remains largely unpopular among Egyptians.
In June, three Israeli soldiers were killed in a firefight at the border with Egypt by a member of the Egyptian security forces who crossed the border “in pursuit of drug traffickers”, according to the Egyptian army.
On Saturday, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned of a “vicious cycle of tensions threatening regional stability and security”.