Egypt police probe murder of Israeli-Canadian businessman

Egypt’s interior ministry said it had launched an investigation Wednesday after an Israeli-Canadian businessman was shot dead in the coastal city of Alexandria.

A police statement said the man, “a permanent resident of the country” was shot dead on Tuesday.

The Israeli foreign ministry said the murdered man was a businessman with dual Canadian-Israeli citizenship.

“He had a business in Egypt. The Israeli embassy in Cairo is in contact with the Egyptian authorities, who are investigating the circumstances of the case,” the ministry said.

Attacks on Israelis in Egypt are rare but not unprecedented. On October 8, the day after Hamas attacked Israel triggering war in Gaza, an Egyptian policeman shot dead two Israeli tourists and their Egyptian guide.

Following their deaths, Israeli authorities advised its nationals in Egypt to leave “as soon as possible”.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel but relations between the two peoples have never been warm.

The Egyptian government has often acted as mediator in flare-ups in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that have threatened to stir up passions on the street.