CAIRO: A shark attack off Egypt’s Red Sea coast killed a tourist and injured another, authorities said Sunday, with an Italy foreign ministry source identifying both as Italian nationals.
“Two foreigners were attacked by a shark in the northern Marsa Alam area, which led to the injury of one and the death of the other,” Egypt’s environment ministry said in a statement.
A source at the Italian foreign ministry told AFP the man killed was a 48-year-old resident of Rome. The injured man was 69 years old.
They were both taken to hospital in Port Ghalib, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Marsa Alam, the Egyptian ministry said.
Authorities have closed the area to swimmers for two days following the incident, which the ministry said occurred in “deep waters outside the designated swimming area.”
The Red Sea is a major tourist destination whose marine life make it popular with divers.
It is also a key employer and source of foreign currency for Egypt, a country of 107 million people trying to navigate out of its worst ever economic crisis.
Last month, at least four people died when a large wave hit and capsized a dive boat carrying more than 30 tourists of various nationalities off Marsa Alam.
Deadly shark attacks are a near-yearly occurrence in Egypt’s Red Sea, where marine experts warn unregulated construction, over-fishing, and irresponsible tourism practices contribute to changing the ecosystem and shark behavior.
In June 2023, a shark attack killed a Russian off the Red Sea resort city of Hurghada.
Italian tourist killed in Egypt shark attack: foreign ministry source
https://arab.news/vr6j5
Italian tourist killed in Egypt shark attack: foreign ministry source
- An Italy foreign ministry source identified both as Italian nationals
- Authorities have closed the area to swimmers for two days following the incident
Israeli FM urges Jews to move to Israel a week after Sydney attack
- “Today I call on Jews in England, Jews in France, Jews in Australia, Jews in Canada, Jews in Belgium: come to the Land of Israel! Come home!” Saar said
JERUSALEM: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called on Sunday for Jews in Western countries to move to Israel to escape rising antisemitism, one week after 15 were shot dead at a Jewish event in Sydney.
“Jews have the right to live in safety everywhere. But we see and fully understand what is happening, and we have a certain historical experience. Today, Jews are being hunted across the world,” Saar said at a public candle lighting marking the last day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
“Today I call on Jews in England, Jews in France, Jews in Australia, Jews in Canada, Jews in Belgium: come to the Land of Israel! Come home!” Saar said at the ceremony, held with leaders of Jewish communities and organizations worldwide.
Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israeli leaders have repeatedly denounced a surge in antisemitism in Western countries and accused their governments of failing to curb it.
Australian authorities have said the December 14 attack on a Hanukkah event on Sydney’s Bondi Beach was inspired by the ideology of the Islamic State jihadist group.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Western governments to better protect their Jewish citizens.
“I demand that Western governments do what is necessary to fight antisemitism and provide the required safety and security for Jewish communities worldwide,” Netanyahu said in a video address.
In October, Saar accused British authorities of failing to take action to curb a “toxic wave of antisemitism” following an attack outside a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, in which two people were killed and four wounded.
According to Israel’s 1950 “Law of Return,” any Jewish person in the world is entitled to settle in Israel (a process known in Hebrew as aliyah, or “ascent“) and acquire Israeli citizenship. The law also applies to individuals who have at least one Jewish grandparent.zz
