Israeli Tourists Killed in Egypt Shooting

An Egyptian policeman fatally shot two Israeli tourists, according to the country's Interior Ministry.

According to the Associated Press, the shooting happened at the Pompey's Pillar—a Roman triumphal column—in the coastal city of Alexandria earlier on Sunday.

The Extra News channel which has ties to Egyptian security agencies said another person was wounded in the attack and that the suspect was apprehended.

Officers soon cordoned off the site of the attack and have launched an investigation, according to the AP.

A graphic video shared on social media shows people lying motionless close to Pompey's Pillar as a woman appears to shout for an ambulance.

Officers are then seen working around the area as another man, who appeared to be injured, could be seen lying upright on some steps.

Newsweek has contacted the Egyptian Interior Ministry for comment via email.

The circumstances of the shooting were not immediately clear. It comes after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel.

Egypt, which borders both Israel and the Gaza Strip to the southwest, signed a peace treaty with Israel in Washington D.C. in 1979.

The shooting in Egypt comes after Hamas launched a surprise attack on targets in southwest Israel on Saturday, October 7.

According to the Associated Press, at least 26 Israeli soldiers were killed in the attack and that these deaths were included among the more than 250 recorded fatalities.

The attack is among the deadliest in Israel in decades and hostages were also taken by Hamas militants.

In response to Saturday's attack, the Israel Defense Forces said it was striking Hamas targets in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Saturday post on X, formerly known as Twitter, said: "Hamas wants to murder us all.

"This is an enemy that murders children and mothers in their homes, in their beds, an enemy that abducts the elderly, children, and young women, that slaughters and massacres our citizens, including children, who simply went out to enjoy the holiday. What happened today is unprecedented in Israel – and I will see to it that it does not happen again.

"The entire government is behind this decision. The IDF will immediately use all its strength to destroy Hamas's capabilities. We will destroy them and we will forcefully avenge this dark day that they have forced on the State of Israel and its citizens. As Bialik wrote: 'Revenge for the blood of a little child has yet been devised by Satan'. All of the places which Hamas is deployed, hiding and operating in, that wicked city, we will turn them into rubble. I say to the residents of Gaza: Leave now because we will operate forcefully everywhere."

Update 10/08/23, 7:58 a.m. ET: This article was updated with more information.