The hashtag “Shalom from the children of Gaza” dominated social media platforms and various search engines after a video spread of the killing of an Israeli-Canadian businessman in the Egyptian city of Alexandria two days ago.
The murder was claimed by an unknown and newly emerging group calling itself “Vanguards of Liberation… the group of the martyr Mohamed Salah,” and posted a video of the assassination on its Telegram account.
The murdered Israeli businessman was called Zev Kiper. He was 65 years old and had lived in Egypt with Canadian citizenship for 9 years. He also owns a company that exports fruits and vegetables, its headquarters are located in the Smouha neighborhood in Alexandria, and it has other headquarters in Canada and Ukraine.
In this context, the group said in a statement that “the criminal Israeli agent Zev Kiper was using his business as a cover to collect information and recruit weak souls for the Mossad.”
On the official level, the Egyptian Ministry of Interior published a brief statement about the incident, in which it said that a Canadian businessman permanently residing in the country was involved in a criminal shooting accident in Alexandria, noting that legal measures had been taken and a research team was formed to uncover the circumstances of the incident.
But the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Zev Kiper holds dual Israeli and Canadian citizenship, and that its embassy in Cairo is following up on the case with the Egyptian authorities.
“An expected result after the Gaza war”
In its episode on (5/9/2024), the “Shabakat” program monitored the platform’s audience’s interaction with the incident, as a wide sector of tweeters considered it an inevitable consequence after the many massacres committed by the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip.
In this regard, Ali said, “Such an incident will be repeated in many Arab and Western cities, and the Zionists will not be safe in any region of the world after it has become clear to the world that they are enemies of humanity.”
Faisal Othman did not care about the details of the killing, but rather about its impact, saying only, “I read some comments whose comments cast doubt on Operation Shalom from the children of Gaza… Personally, I do not care about the identity of the perpetrator or his political purpose. I care that enemies everywhere are not safe.”
In turn, Salah Adel addressed what happened from a different angle, and said, “All thanks, appreciation, and confidence to the research team at the Egyptian Ministry of Interior and standing by its men,” and added, “Such individual incidents happen in all countries, and we attack anyone who reduces the efficiency of police officers.”
For his part, Sherif Ahmed saw that this process harms Egypt’s image in the international arena, saying, “What I know is that as long as we give safety to any person who enters Egypt, people must adhere to it, regardless of the issues and hostility, and what happened is the sabotage of our image before the global community.”
It should be noted that Zev Kiper’s wife told Israeli media that she realizes that the motive behind the attack on her husband “is hostility to Zionism and her husband’s Jewish and Israeli identity.”
According to the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the body of the murdered businessman will be transported to Israel to be buried there, adding that his wife and daughter will move to live in Israel, in addition to his children from his previous wives who live outside Israel.