Egypt says no one hurt in attack by hotel near Giza Pyramids

The group of approximately 45 tourists, who were on a tour bus near the hotel, were Israeli Arabs from Umm al-Fahm and Jaffa, Arab MK Ahmad Tibi told Israel Radio.

The incident at the Three Pyramids Hotel, about three miles from the historic pyramids in Giza, damaged the building’s glass façade and a bus parked outside, according to the Egyptian Security Information Center.

One of the gunmen was arrested at the scene and security forces surrounded the other attacks in another part of the city, sources said. But the Israeli Arab tourists said there had been heavy and lengthy gunfire.

The Foreign Ministry is investigating the attack.

Egypt has suffered a great blow in its tourism industry from the continued attacks on tourists which have resulted in the loss of more than five billion USA dollars in 2015.

Police were still searching for the rest of the group, the statement said. The political vacuum has been exploited by Islamist groups, including Isil, which has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks and kidnaps.

The incident coincided with Orthodox Christmas, which Coptic Christians were celebrating in the largely Muslim country. They have also claimed the downing of a Russian jet that killed 224 people there past year.