Tel Aviv city hall to display Egyptian flag following Cairo attack

The Municipality Hall building will be illuminated with the Egyptian flag to commemorate the victims of Friday's deadly attack in Cairo.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS

MAY 27, 2017 19:43

Updated: MAY 28, 2017 09:16

Tel Aviv municipality building. (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons) — Tel Aviv municipality building.

(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

The Tel Aviv Municipality Hall building will be illuminated with the Egyptian flag on Saturday night to commemorate the victims of Friday's deadly attack on a bus carrying Coptic Christians in Cairo, according to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs source.

Gunmen attack Coptic Christians in Egypt (credit: REUTERS)

Earlier on Saturday, Islamic State claimed responsibility via Twitter for the attack, which killed at least 29 people and came on the eve of the Muslim festival of Ramadan. 24 were wounded, including many children, in the attack.

Eyewitnesses said masked men opened fire after stopping the Christians, who were in a bus and other vehicles. Local TV channels showed a bus apparently raked by gunfire and smeared with blood.

Tonight at 22:30 #Israel #TelAviv municipality will display #Egypt flag in solidarity and commemoration of terror victims #Coptic #Egyptian https://t.co/wM2wQVmw1N
— Seth Frantzman (@sfrantzman) May 27, 2017

Coptic Christians, whose church dates back nearly 2,000 years, make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population of 92 million.

They say they have long suffered from persecution, but in recent months the frequency of deadly attacks against them has increased. About 70 have been killed since December in bombings claimed by IS at churches in the cities of Cairo, Alexandria and Tanta.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called a meeting of security officials, the state news agency said, and the cabinet said the attackers would not succeed in dividing the nation.

The municipality building displayed the Union Jack flag of the United Kingdom earlier in the week (Tuesday) in solidarity with the city of Manchester, following the terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert that resulted in the death of 22 people.