Two Israeli citizens have been detained by Egyptian authorities for allegedly assaulting three hotel employees in Taba, a Red Sea resort town near the Israeli border, Egyptian security sources said on Sunday, according to the Reuters news agency.
The Israelis, who are facing charges of assault and intimidation, have been placed in custody for a four-day period while investigations are conducted, the sources said.
The incident occurred on Friday when a conflict broke out at a Taba hotel, resulting in injuries to three Arab Israeli tourists and two Egyptian hotel staff members.
Egyptian security sources said the altercation began after an Arab Israeli tourist verbally insulted an Egyptian employee, leading to a brawl that involved other tourists and hotel staff.
Egypt's state-affiliated Al-Qahera News television channel reported that one of the Egyptian workers sustained serious injuries. The channel also indicated that the fight was triggered after several tourists refused to pay for hotel services.
Although Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and has played a key role in mediating between Israel and Hamas, ties between Israel and Egypt have been formally cold, and Egypt's political elite remains hostile to any normalization of ties with Israel.
A 2015 poll found that Egyptians see Israel as the "most hostile" of their neighbors, despite the peace treaty.
In 2016, some Egyptians were outraged after an Israeli book was allowed into an international book fair in Cairo.
Despite this, Egyptian authorities in April arrested 10 activists who participated in a pro-Palestinian Arab protest in which they accused the government of contributing to the siege of Gaza and called for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador.