In a statement issued today by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Egypt expressed hope that this agreement would positively impact freedomn of navigation in the Red Sea.
Archiv: little Pharao (ruler of Egypt)
Sisi, Qatari Emir emphasize support for arab plan to rebuild Gaza
They stressed the importance of a political horizon leading to an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The leaders also discussed regional issues, including the situations in Syria, Lebanon, and Sudan, emphasizing the importance of preserving their unity, territorial integrity, and protecting their people‘s resources and stability.
Egypt condemns Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, leaving hundreds killed
Egypt also called on the international community to intervene immediately to halt the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, to prevent the region from relapsing into a renewed cycle of violence and counter-violence.
Outrage as Israel cuts off Gaza aid to pressure Hamas to accept new ceasefire proposal
Israel faced sharp criticism as it stopped the entry of all food and other supplies into Gaza on Sunday and warned of “additional consequences” for Hamas if a fragile ceasefire isn’t extended.
Mediators Egypt and Qatar accused Israel of violating humanitarian law by using starvation as a weapon.
Egypt’s Sisi returns home after participating in Riyadh‘s meeting on Palestinian issue
CAIRO – 21 February 2025: President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has departed from the Saudi capital, Riyadh, returning to Egypt after attending an informal meeting focused on the Palestinian issue.
The meeting saw the participation of the leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan.
Crown Prince convenes meeting of leaders of Gulf, Egypt and Jordan in Riyadh on Friday
RIYADH — Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman will hold an informal fraternal meeting with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Egypt‘s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in Riyadh on Friday, Feb. 21. The meeting follows an invitation extended by the Crown Prince to these leaders, the Saudi Press Agency reported quoting an official Saudi source.
This meeting comes within the context of the special friendly meetings that have been held periodically for many years between the leaders of the GCC, Jordan and Egypt, the source said.
Egypt says Trump backs its Gaza plan, convinced by Jordan‘s king
The official confirmed that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is set to travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, likely on Thursday, to discuss Egypt’s plan for post-war Gaza governance. (…)
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that the Egyptian plan would not include Hamas or the PA. The report said it would involve a police force made up of PA policemen who remained in Gaza after 2007, when Hamas won legislative elections and took control of the enclave.
MEE reported in May that Hamas was prepared to show „flexibility“ about the future governance of Gaza, stating its condition was that Gaza’s fate was agreed upon by other Palestinian factions and not imposed by either the United States or Israel.
Exclusive: Egyptian firm charges trucks entering Gaza $20,000 in ‘bribes’
Organi is a Sinai businessman, politician and tribal leader allied with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Organi‘s name has become synonynous with unofficial profits made out of the suffocating Gaza blockade, particularly from desperate Palestinians attempting to flee the fighting.
MEE last year revealed that Organi made at least $2m daily from Palestinians who left the Gaza Strip via the border crossing point with Egypt, the only one not directly controlled by Israel at the time. Another report revealed that Organi’s companies charged aid trucks $5000 to enter Gaza.
Trump pushes Gaza plan in meeting with Jordan‘s King Abdullah II
„I don‘t have to threaten that. I do believe we‘re above that,“ Mr. Trump said. That contradicted his previous suggestion that holding back aid was a possibility.
Gaza: Trump forces King Abdullah II of Jordan into diplomatic contortions
There was something painful about watching Jordanian King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday, February 11, his eyes nervously twitching as he tried not to upset his host, Donald Trump. Journalists asked him, several times over: Was his country, Jordan, ready to receive a part of the Gazan population on its soil, as the American president wants to remove them from Palestinian territory?
The king refused to answer. In his impeccable English, he cautiously took refuge behind Egypt‘s broader international stature.
Egypt‘s Sisi scrambling to respond to Trump‘s Gaza seizure plan
Diplomatic and intelligence sources tell Middle East Eye that Cairo has no plans for preventing the US president‘s idea to take over Gaza and forcibly displace its population
The solution lies in just peace, not displacement
Jordan‘s posture on the Palestinian question has always been firm and clear: Jordan is not, and will never be, an alternative homeland for Palestinians.
This position is not merely a political statement but a historical commitment rooted in the principle of justice and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. Jordan rejects any attempt to liquidate the Palestinian cause or deny the rights of Palestinians under whatsoever pretext.
High-profile source negates phone call between Trump, Egyptian president
CAIRO – 28 January 2025: A high-profile Egyptian source negated Tuesday that a phone call had taken place earlier this week between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, noting that phone calls between the chief of state and counterparts are always announced.
Trump reiterates wish to move Gazans to Egypt, Jordan
„I’ve helped him [el-Sisi] a lot and I hope he’ll help us. I think he’ll do it [take in Palestinians] and the king of Jordan will do it too,“ he added.
Trump Reveals Plan For The Ethnic Cleansing Of Gaza
Well that didn’t take long.
Trump wants Jordan and Egypt to accept more Palestinian refugees and floats plan to ‘clean out’ Gaza
Trump has built his political career around being unapologetically pro-Israel. On his larger vision for Gaza, Trump said he had call earlier in the day with King Abdullah II of Jordan and would speak Sunday with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt.
“I’d like Egypt to take people,” Trump said. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know, it’s over.’”
Assad’s family ‘flees’ to Russia – but Kremlin won’t come to Syrian leader’s rescue
(December 6, 2024)
Bashar al-Assad’s family fled to Russia in the days after rebel forces launched a shock offensive that captured swathes of territory across northern Syria, it has been revealed.
It comes after a source close to the Kremlin told Bloomberg News that Moscow had no plans to rescue the Syrian president, with Vladimir Putin said to be disgusted by reports of regime troops fleeing their positions. (…)
Egyptian and Jordanian officials are understood to have urged the Syrian president to leave the country and form a government-in-exile.
Biden says to push for Gaza war end with Egypt, Qatar, Turkey after Israel-Lebanon deal
Biden outlined his intention to cooperate with these partners to bring about an end to the war in Gaza, secure the release of captives held by Hamas, and ensure that Hamas relinquishes power.
Egypt, Qatar, and the US have spearheaded mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas since the war began on October 7, 2023.
Sudan: Allies of warring generals ‘enabling the slaughter,’ Security Council hears
Ms. DiCarlo condemned not only the RSF attacks but also the indiscriminate airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in civilian-populated areas such as the capital Khartoum and El Fasher, a major city in North Darfur hosting thousands of internally displaced which has been besieged for months by the RSF.
“Both warring parties bear responsibility for this violence,” she stressed.
She added that as the rainy season nears its end, both sides continue to escalate their military operations, recruit new fighters and intensify their attacks, fuelled by “considerable” external support and a steady flow of arms.
“To put it bluntly, certain purported allies of the parties are enabling the slaughter in Sudan. This is unconscionable, it is illegal, and it must end.”
(…)
The situation in Sudan has been in a freefall since the war erupted last April.
It is now the world’s worst displacement crisis, with more than 11 million people driven from their homes – nearly three million among them into neighbouring countries as refugees, according to the UN relief coordinating office, OCHA.
The war has also unleashed a severe hunger crisis, affecting millions.
‚Humanitarian islands‘: how will Israel‘s plan for Rafah civilians work?
(14.03.2024)
Israel has not revealed when the offensive in Rafah will begin, nor when the evacuation will occur. Announcing the „humanitarian islands“ plan, Hagari said only that Israel wanted the timing to be right operationally and to be coordinated with neighbouring Egypt, which has said it does not want an influx of displaced Palestinians crossing its border.
Egyptian militia leader Organi unveils plans for ‘Sisi City’ at Israel border
Prior to merging it with the newly declared union, Organi led the Union of Sinai Tribes (UST), a pro-government paramilitary group set up in 2015 to support the Egyptian army in its battles against a local offshoot of the Islamic State (IS). The UST’s mission in Sinai has been unclear since the IS-affiliate group known as the Sinai Province was officially defeated in 2022.
The bloody, 10-year campaign in the Sinai has almost completely razed Rafah and uprooted thousands of members of the indigenous Bedouin population, leaving most towns and villages pulverised.
Egypt detains ten pro-Palestine protesters on charges of ‚spreading fake news‘
(04.04.2024)
Wednesday’s demonstration was held in front of the Journalists‘ Syndicate in Cairo, where dozens of journalists and activists gathered to protest against the ongoing Israeli onslaught on Gaza.
Activists shared videos of one of the protesters chanting against business tycoon and government ally Ibrahim al-Organi, whose companies have been charging Palestinians thousands of dollars to exit Gaza.
Biden fordert Waffenruhe in Gaza
Biden forderte, dass Israel zu einem Waffenstillstand aufrufe, um den vollständigen Zugang zu Nahrungsmitteln und Medikamenten im Gazastreifen zu ermöglichen.
Derweil treibt Israel sein Vorhaben für eine Bodenoffensive in der Stadt Rafah im Süden Gazas offenbar voran.
Biden criticizes Netanyahu’s approach to war with Hamas as mistake
“What I’m calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks total access to all food and medicine going into the country. I’ve spoken with everyone from the Saudis to the Jordanians to the Egyptians. They’re prepared to move in. They’re prepared to move this food in. And I think there’s no excuse to not provide for the medical and the food needs of those people. It should be done now,” Biden said in the interview.
The comments came in the lead up to ..
Thousands of trucks waiting in North Sinai to enter Gaza, says Sinai governor
North Sinai‘s governor, Mohamed Shousha, said 7,000 aid trucks are waiting to deliver aid into Gaza.
Shousha said in a statement that Israel‘s inspection rules had delayed the flow of aid into Gaza.
At Rafah border crossing to Gaza, UN’s Guterres calls for immediate ceasefire
“Here from this crossing, we see the heartbreak and heartlessness of it all,” he said, pointing to a long line of blocked relief trucks on one side of the gates and the “long shadow of starvation on the other”.
“That is more than tragic; moral outrage,” he said, adding that “any further onslaught will make everything worse” for Palestinian civilians, hostages and all people of the region.
All this demonstrates that it’s more than time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and for “an ironclad commitment by Israel for total, unfettered access for humanitarian goods throughout Gaza”, he said, emphasizing that in the Ramadan spirit of compassion, it’s time for the immediate release of all hostages.
He also urged all UN Member States to support the “lifesaving work led by the backbone of all Gaza relief operations, UNRWA”, the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees.
Pledging to continue working with Egypt to streamline the flow of aid, he had a message for Palestinians in Gaza: “you are not alone.”
War on Gaza: Israel is dragging the US into a future regional war
Netanyahu’s game plan is now clear: prolong the war as long as possible; seal all the land borders, ending with Rafah; and make the sea the only escape route for Palestinians from Gaza.
Behind the hot words of condemnation, Biden and the EU have thus far played into his hands. The infrastructure for just such a plan is being built before our eyes, with Washington’s willing assistance. (…)
The plan for a maritime route to Gaza via Cyprus was initiated by Netanyahu, a senior diplomatic source told The Jerusalem Post. “Netanyahu took the initiative to establish maritime humanitarian aid for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, in collaboration with the Biden administration,” the source said.
The date when this happened is more important than the identity of the scheme’s author. According to this report, Netanyahu outlined his strategy to Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides on 31 October, just three weeks after the Hamas attack, and revisited the matter with Biden on 19 January.
In other words, the floating pier was not a reaction to impending famine. It was part of the planning that created it.
‚Egypt is aiding Israel‘: The Palestinians charged a fortune to escape Gaza‘s war
Ali had to pay $15,000, in what is referred to as a “travel coordination fee”, to a travel agency liaising with an Egyptian state-linked company to allow his family to leave Gaza via the Rafah border crossing in northeastern Egypt.
This is curently the only way for Palestinians who do not have another nationality to cross to Egypt.
The Gaza travel company acts as an intermediary between the Palestinians wishing to leave Gaza and an Egyptian company, Hala, which has a de facto monopoly over the exit of Palestinians via the Rafah crossing.
The Daily Hunt for Food in Gaza
For two million hungry Gazans, most days bring a difficult search for something to eat.
Aid trucks entering Gaza must double to meet basic needs, WFP says
(06.03.2024)
Before the conflict began in October, Gaza relied on 500 trucks entering daily. Aid can currently be delivered into southern Gaza via the Rafah crossing from Egypt and Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel.
People in Gaza are in desperate humanitarian need. Alongside the US, the UK and partners have announced we will open a maritime corridor to deliver aid directly to Gaza. We continue to urge Israel to allow more trucks into Gaza as the fastest way to get aid to those who need it.
Joint Statement from the European Commission, the Republic of Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States Endorsing the Activation of a Maritime Corridor to Deliver Humanitarian Assistance to Gaza
The United States announced an emergency mission led by the U.S. military to establish a temporary pier in Gaza, in coordination with humanitarian partners and other countries, to enable the delivery of significant quantities of assistance by sea. These efforts will be closely coordinated with the Government of Israel.
The delivery of humanitarian assistance directly to Gaza by sea will be complex, and our nations will continue to assess and adjust our efforts to ensure we deliver aid as effectively as possible. This maritime corridor can—and must—be part of a sustained effort to increase the flow of humanitarian aid and commercial commodities into Gaza through all possible routes.
US military conducts fourth Gaza airdrop
The US military carried out its fourth airdrop of assistance into Gaza, responding to the escalating humanitarian crisis in the densely populated coastal area on Friday, a US official told Reuters.
Israel destroying Gaza‘s food system as ‚starvation‘ tactic, says UN expert
„Israel is not only denying and restricting the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel is destroying the food system in Gaza,“ Michael Fakhri, UN special rapporteur on the right to food, said in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council on
„Israel has mounted a starvation campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza.“
He said that Israel was targeting small-scale fishers as part of the campaign, including by denying them access to the sea and destroying boats.
Supplies allowed into the besieged #GazaStrip are not enough to feed an entire population; hunger is everywhere. Man-made famine looms. Babies dying of malnutrition. Unimpeded access across #GazaStrip is needed NOW. An immediate ceasefire continues to be a matter of life & death
Why only a trickle of aid is getting into Gaza
(11.02.2024)
An average of 95 aid trucks per day entered Gaza between October 10 and February 1, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, down from 500 commercial and aid trucks a day before the war, when Palestinians weren’t facing mass displacement and starvation. Some 2 million Gazans are dependent on UN aid now.
Satellite images show Egypt levelling land and building a wall along its border with the Gaza Strip near the Rafah crossing.
The construction suggests Egypt is preparing for a possible influx of displaced Palestinians, amid fears that Israel‘s planned ground invasion of Rafah.
Today in Deir al-Balah, middle #Gaza, families queue for hours to receive a hot meal. Starvation looms. Desperately needed aid is not going into #Gaza
People across the #GazaStrip are stalked by hunger, disease and death, with those in the north on the verge of famine
U.S., Arab nations plan for postwar Gaza, timeline for Palestinian state
(14.02.2024)
“The key is the hostage deal,” said one U.S. official among several American and Arab diplomats who discussed the subject on the condition of anonymity to avoid derailing the plan before it is completed.