In a statement on Saturday, Al-Hajraf stressed the GCC member states’ solidarity with Egypt against terrorism and extremism, asserting his full rejection of terrorist attacks, which violate all religious and humanitarian principles.

He also extended his deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the attack, the government, and people of Egypt and wished a speedy recovery for the injured.

The Egyptian Armed Forces announced on Saturday that it foiled an attack launched by a group of terrorists targeting a water-lifting station in the east of the Suez Canal in Sinai.

The Egyptian army said that “the remaining terrorists are currently being hunted down and besieged in an isolated area in Sinai.”

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, which is the first major attack of its kind in recent years.

Terrorist attacks in North Sinai have declined in recent years following massive and successive security and military operations.

These attacks targeted security forces, particularly at military and police checkpoints, as well as civilians, causing hundreds of casualties.

Meanwhile, hundreds of terrorists were killed in anti-terror military operations, according to Armed Forces periodical reports.

In 2018, the Armed Forces have launched a major counterterrorist drive, Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018, that has succeeded in near eradication of terrorism from North Sinai as well as the Nile Delta and desert areas.