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Egypt says negotiations between Israel and Hamas on the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire have begun in Cairo. Officials from Israel, Qatar and the US on Thursday started intensive discussions on the second phase of the ceasefire, Egypts state information service said in a statement. The mediators are also discussing ways to enhance the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, as part of efforts to alleviate the suffering of the population and support stability in the region, it said. The launch of talks helps avert a collapse of the ceasefire, whose first phase is set to expire on Saturday. Under the deal, the ceasefire remains in effect while negotiations on the second phase are taking place.
Egypt is developing a plan to rebuild Gaza without forcing Palestinians out of the strip in a counter to President Donald Trump's proposal to depopulate the territory so the US can take it over. Egypt's state-run Al-Ahram newspaper said the proposal calls for establishing "secure areas" within Gaza where Palestinians can live initially while Egyptian and international construction firms remove and rehabilitate the strip's infrastructure. Egyptian officials have been discussing the plan with European diplomats as well as with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, according to two Egyptian officials and Arab and Western diplomats. They are also discussing ways to fund the reconstruction, including an international conference on Gaza reconstruction, said one of the Egyptian officials and an Arab diplomat. The officials and diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because the proposal is still being negotiated. The proposal comes after an international uproar over Trump's call for the remo
A group of 50 sick and wounded Palestinian children began crossing to Egypt for treatment through Gaza's Rafah crossing on Saturday, in the first opening of the border since Israel captured it nearly nine months ago. The reopening of the Rafah crossing represents a significant breakthrough that bolsters the ceasefire deal Israel and Hamas agreed to earlier this month. Israel agreed to reopen the crossing after Hamas released the last living female hostages in Gaza. Egyptian television showed an Palestinian Red Cross ambulance pulling up to the crossing gate, and several children were brought out on stretchers and transferred to ambulances on the Egyptian side.
President Donald Trump's push to have Egypt and Jordan take in large numbers of Palestinian refugees from besieged Gaza fell flat with the Amman government and perplexed a congressional ally. Trump nonetheless planned to discuss the idea more on Sunday with Egypt's leader. Fighting that broke out in the territory after ruling Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023 is paused due to a fragile ceasefire, but much of Gaza's population has been left largely homeless by an Israeli military campaign. Trump told reporters Saturday aboard Air Force One that moving about a 1.5 million people away from Gaza might mean that "we just clean out that whole thing. Trump relayed what he told Jordan's King Abdullah when the two held a call earlier Saturday: I said to him, I'd love for you to take on more because I'm looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it's a mess.' The president said he would make a similar appeal to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi during their conversation while .
An assembly line to enhance local manufacturing capabilities was inaugurated by Ezz LCV, the authorisied distributor of TVS Motor Company in Giza, Egypt, the two wheeler manufacturer said. Established at an investment of about USD 6.5 million, the state-of-the-art facility would have a total production capacity of one lakh units per year, thereby expanding Ezz LCV's ability to meet growing market demand. According to a company statement, the new assembly line would assemble popular models of TVS Motor Company including TVS Apache RTR Series, TVS HLX Series and TVS XL 100. "By localising production, Ezz LCV aims to improve delivery times, support its extensive dealer network, and provide high-quality motorcycles tailored to Egyptian customer preferences," the statement said. The assembly line leverages TVS Motor Company's globally recognized engineering expertise while allowing Ezz LCV to strengthen its market position in the region. "Congratulations to Ezz LCV on the inauguration
President Donald Trump said Saturday he'd like to see Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations increase the number of Palestinian refugees they are accepting from the Gaza Strip potentially moving out enough of the population to just clean out the war-torn area to create virtual clean slate. During a 20-minute question-and-answer session with reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday, Trump said he discussed his vision on a 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 him to take people. I'd like Egypt to take people, said Trump. 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.' Speaking about the effects of Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza, Trump said he complimented Jordan for having successfully accepted Palestinian refugees and that he told the king, I'd love for you to take on more, cause I'm looking at the whole
The Biden administration in its final days is shifting more than $100 million in military aid from Israel and Egypt to Lebanon as it tries to bolster a ceasefire agreement it helped mediate between Israel and Hezbollah. In separate notices sent to Congress, the State Department said it was moving $95 million in military assistance intended for Egypt and $7.5 million for Israel toward supporting the Lebanese army and its government. The notices were dated Jan 3 and obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday. Most of the money will go to the Lebanese Armed Forces, which have a critical role in standing up the ceasefire that was agreed to in November following an all-out war that battered much of southern and eastern Lebanon for two months. It is intended to help the LAF deploy in the south of the country and supplement the role of the UN peacekeeping mission patrolling the so-called Blue Line, which has separated Israel and Lebanon since the end of a 2006 war between Israel and the .
Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Egypt on Tuesday for his 10th trip to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began nearly a year ago, this one aimed partly at refining a proposal to present to Israel and Hamas for a cease-fire deal and release of hostages. Unlike in recent mediating missions, America's top diplomat this time is travelling without optimistic projections from the Biden administration of an expected breakthrough in the troubled negotiations. Notably, Blinken has no public plans to go to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on this trip. The Israeli leader's fiery public statements like his declaration that Israel would accept only total victory when Blinken was last in the region in June and some other unbudgeable demands have complicated earlier diplomacy. Blinken is going to Egypt for talks Wednesday with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and others, in a trip billed as focused both on American-Egyptian relations and Gaza ...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel must keep open-ended control of Gaza's border with Egypt, digging in on his stance on an issue that has threatened to derail cease-fire efforts. Netanyahu's comments came as the United States is developing a new proposal for a cease-fire and hostage release, hoping to break a long deadlock and bring an end to the nearly 11-month-old war. The question of Israeli control of the Philadelphi corridor - a narrow strip of land along Gaza's border with Egypt, seized by troops in May - has become a central obstacle in the talks. Hamas has demanded an eventual full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in the multi-phase truce deal. Egypt, a mediator in the talks along with the U.S. and Qatar, has also demanded a concrete timeline for Israeli troops to leave the Philadelphi corridor. And on Wednesday, the United Arab Emirates, which established formal ties with Israel in the 2020 Abraham Accords, also criticized the Israeli ...