Ignoring the lingering threat of Washington sanctions, Egypt is moving forward with a purchase of large batch of Russian Su-35 "Flanker" jet fighters.

The first batch of Su-35's are now said to en route to Cairo this week, after in 2019 Egypt signed an agreement to purchase more than 20 Su-35 fighter jets from the Kremlin in a $2 billion deal.

The whole arrangement is awkward for the US defense establishment, given that it works so closely with the Egyptian military, and has done so for years going back to the Camp David Accords.

A week ago Ethiopia took the hugely controversial step of initiating filling the reservoir behind the 'Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam', further enraging Egypt which says the project will devastate its economy, farming, and ecosystem bound up with the Nile River downstream.

Ethiopia days ago added further fuel to the fire when the country's foreign minister tweeted in the national language, Amharic, that "The Nile is Ours".

Ethiopia's foreign minister outraged Egyptians on Wednesday with a hubristic tweet claiming "The Nile is Ours", one week after it took a notable step in completing its controversial upsteam Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam [GERD] project.

Gedu Andargachew tweet read: "Congratulations! It was the Nile River and the river became a lake. It will no longer flow into the river. Ethiopia will have all the development it wants from it. In fact the Nile is ours!"

It comes amid reports that the US is considering sanctions against Ethiopia over its refusal to enter into a final agreement with Sudan and Egypt about the future status of the Nile.

The Turkey-based Zaman newspaper quoted informed sources in the Turkish government as saying that a military and diplomatic plan has been prepared to deal with the Egyptian parliament’s decision to send troops to Libya.

According to their sources, the Turkish newspaper said that Ankara “is closely watching the consequences of the Egyptian parliament’s decision.”

Their sources stressed that if “Egypt sends military forces to Libya, Turkey has a plan to increase its forces and military equipment in Libya to stand up to the Egyptian forces.”

On Monday, Egypt’s parliament gave military junta leader Abdel Fattah el-Sisi approval to deploy troops abroad into neighboring Libya, following up a similar authorization from Libya’s Tobruk parliament, which is loyal to Gen. Khalifa Hafter and is seeking an intervention on their behalf.

This is the latest of Hafter’s several multi-year bids to take over Libya. A military dictatorship themselves, the Sisi junta has backed Hafter heavily, seeing it as a chance to install a friendly government on their border.

Egyptian airstrikes are common, but a direct ground invasion is hugely risky, because Turkey already has troops in Libya, and they are backing the alternative government in Tripoli. This looks tailor-made to be a proxy battle over Libya.

Egypt and Turkey have ideological differences, not just that Egypt is under military rule after a coup while Turkey’s coup failed. The two both have interests in the future of Libya, Turkey for the sake of oil and gas exploration.

Via AlMasdarNews.com,

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Ankara’s stance in Libya foiled the plans of the Libyan National Army’s commander, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

According to Erdogan, Turkey’s intervention saved the city of Tripoli from falling to the Libyan National Army (LNA) and their commander.

Erdogan continued in his interview with the Turkish magazine that “the Government of National Accord managed to get the revolutionaries out of Tripoli in a short time and these field gains heralded peace and security in all Libyan lands.”

He then boasted that it was ultimately Turkish military support to Tripoli, was had endured for much of the past year, that thwarted Haftar's advance:

“Turkey’s determined stance stifled the plans of Haftar and his supporters to occupy Tripoli.”

He said, “Strengthening Libya politically and economically will comfort North Africa and Europe.”

Describing the way the labyrinth likely looked centuries ago, one researcher claimed that the discovery of the structure was "suppressed".

Archaeologists in Egypt have uncovered ruins which, over a thousand years ago, might have formed “the basis of the complex of buildings with galleries and courtyards” that were described as a labyrinth by legendary ancient Greek historian Herodotus, the Daily Express reports.

As the newspaper notes, the discovery was made in the vicinity of the so called Black Pyramid, some 90 kilometers south of Cairo, with the "foundations" in question first being found by Egyptologist Flinders Petrie back in the 19th century.

A senior Egyptian judge, who attempted to draft an anti-torture law, has been arbitrarily dismissed from the country's Supreme Judiciary Council, a legal source told Arabi21.

Asim Abdul Jabbar, the vice-head of Egypt's court of cassation - the country's highest appeals court - had been set to resume his membership of the seven member council in 2021 before his name was suddenly dropped off the list.

It followed an abrupt verdict by the judiciary's acting head, Abdullah Amin Asr, the source said, which appears due to Abdul Jabbar's efforts in making torture illegal.

Two weeks ago, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi flew by helicopter to visit Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his presidential palace in Ramallah.

His Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, was also invited along. Photos from the event were meant to feature two of Israel’s neighbors at Abbas’s side. Both nations have fought multiple wars with Israel, both have signed historic peace treaties with the Jewish state, and both would reaffirm their commitment to the Palestinian cause and opposition to Israel’s planned annexation of parts of the West Bank.

Cairo sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council requesting it to intervene in the dispute over the Great Renaissance Dam of Ethiopia (GERD). A hasty filling of the dam in Ethiopia threatens food and agriculture in Egypt and Sudan, and for this reason Cairo wants the UN Security Council to lend a hand in tripartite negotiations.

In its letter, Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs activated Article 35 of the UN Charter, which allows member states to warn the international entity of any crisis that threatens peace and security. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry decided to appeal to the UN after tripartite negotiations stalled due to Ethiopia’s “non-cooperative behavior.” The GERD, that Ethiopia has been working on since 2011, is to provide electricity for not only the whole country, but also its neighbors. The main problem Egypt and Sudan have with the Ethiopian project is the timeline to fill up the $4.8 billion dam with water.

Egypt and Turkey have long been on opposite sides of the raging battle for the fate of Libya, with Turkey providing major military support and backing for the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, and with Egypt backing Gen. Khalifa Haftar.

The situation escalated over the weekend, amid a pullback of pro-Haftar forces from Tripoli after being defeated in the bid for the capital, when Egypt's President Sisi announced from an airbase near the Libyan border that the Egyptian Army stands ready to intervene in Libya on behalf of Haftar.

Sisi declared that if GNA forces attempt to enter Haftar-controlled Sirte, pushing deeper into central Libya, this would be a 'red line' for Egypt, forcing it's intervention. Crucially both Tripoli and its main ally Turkey on Sunday condemned what they called Sisi's "declaration of war".

Russian media outlets have speculated the sanctions that the US might impose on Egypt in the event that it acquires the Sukhoi Su-35 fighter, as Washington has previously threatened.

Russia Today (RT) stated that it has now become known that the deal is about to be implemented despite the US’ previous threats to Egypt, made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, that the implementation of this deal may render Egypt subject to sanctions, under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.

According to experts, the Egyptian army’s acquisition of the Su-35 Russian fighter will lead to a military imbalance in the region, as it is one of the most powerful fighter aircraft in the world, and it will guarantee the Egyptian army’s superiority over the other air forces in the region.

CAIRO - Egypt's military-backed government is using the coronavirus pandemic to tighten its grip on the country, human rights activists say.

In recent weeks, authorities have ordered up punishments, including prison terms, for anyone they accuse of contradicting official accounts about the pandemic. Political opponents have been linked to the virus and targeted. And under coronavirus-related restrictions, political prisoners are more isolated than ever from the world as the virus threatens them.

On Friday, President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi approved amendments to the nation's emergency law, giving himself and security agencies additional powers. The stricter measures, the government claims, are needed to address a legal "vacuum" and prevent the spread of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

But activists say some of the measures open the door to more abuses of rights and freedoms.

A cruise ship on Egypt's River Nile, carrying some 150 tourists and crew, has been quarantined and 45 people aboard have tested positive for the deadly coronavirus, country's health authorities have said.

Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's former autocrat who ruled for nearly 30 years before being ensnared in the 2011 Arab Spring that swept through the region, died Tuesday at 91, Egypt state TV reported.

The former leader passed away at a Cairo hospital where he had undergone surgery. State TV did not elaborate on the procedure, but it came days after one of his sons, Alaa, announced that Mubarak was in intensive care after undergoing a different surgery on January 23.

A week ago Erdogan said that he was ready to deploy troops to Libya on short notice. Today rumors appeared in Arab media, still unconfirmed, that Turkish special operations forces landed in Tripoli.

The Libyan war between two Libyan parties will now become a very different beast. Egypt will not tolerate a Muslim Brotherhood led Libya as its neighbor. Before the Turkish support allows the GNA government to defeat Haftar Egypt will intervene. The situation can thereby soon develop into an intense war during which Turkish troops fight on Libyan grounds against the Egyptian military.

Both countries have rich Arab sponsors who can finance a long and intense conflict. Both have lots of material and many many soldiers who they can throw into the fight. The Egyptian side has one advantage. Its long land border allows for easy resupply while Turkey will have to rely on supplies that come by sea and air and can be cut off or at least interrupted.

SOURCE: MIDDLE EAST MONITOR
The Israeli government is aiming to increase the volume of Israel’s defence exports, reported Globes, which has revealed the main points of the plan for the first time.

The project, being overseen by the Defence Ministry’s International Defence Cooperation Directorate (SIBAT) led by Brigadier General (Res.) Yair Kulas, will begin to be rolled out in early 2020.

According to Globes, the plan is based on “focused seminars for senior commanders in foreign armies”, Israeli military “assistance for promoting sales of Israeli weapons”, and “subsidising small and medium-sized defence companies seeking to sell arms around the world”.

Speaking this week, Kulas said that SIBAT favours a major expansion of agreements between countries, resulting in significant deals for the large defence companies, especially Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Rafael Advanced Defence Systems.

Washington’s latest attempt to dissuade an ally from making arms deals with Russia came in the form of a letter sent on last Wednesday to Egyptian officials warning them that they could face sanctions if they continued with their $2 billion dollar Su-35 fighter jets contract.

In addition to sanctions, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper warned Egyptian Defense Minister Mohamed Ahmed Zaki in Wednesday’s letter that “Major new arms deals with Russia would — at a minimum — complicate future U.S. defense transactions with and security assistance to Egypt.” The United States sends Egypt $1.3 billion annually in military assistance.

Russia has become one of Egypt’s major arms suppliers. This particular arms between Egypt and Russia for ten fighter jets was signed at the end of 2018, with delivery of the Su-35 Flanker-E air superiority fighter aircraft as well as weapons for the planes starting in 2020-2021.

The civilian opposition elites abroad, backed by groups in the community with an Islamic background, complain about the flatness and stagnation of the Egyptian people, and their unwillingness to change their bitter reality. Some intellectuals have begun searching in history for proof of their foolishness, sometimes twisting the facts to prove the validity of their opinions.

These opposition elites do not feel guilty as they blame their sins on the people. They are the ones who lost the revolution, dancing in front of Al-Sisi’s empty election committees. They are the ones who sold their dignity to support the tyrant in exchange for a humble meal. These accusations only indicate some elites’ lack of knowledge regarding the nature, history, and psyche of the people on whose behalf they speak.

The truth is that these elites have overlooked several matters:

Egypt said the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s remarks about his country’s readiness to go for war over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) are “totally unacceptable and send negative messages.”

In a Tuesday statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry expressed its concerns over such remarks that referred to “military options,” noting that it violates the values of the African Union, especially that Egypt did not address the issue of the dam at any time only through negotiations based on international law and international legitimacy.

“Egypt always relies on negotiations as a way to settle disputes over the GERD between the three countries, with transparency and good intention over many years,” the statement read.

Egyptian police used tear gas and birdshot to disperse anti-government protesters who took to the streets in defiance of a security crackdown that brought Cairo and other cities to a standstill on Friday.

Protests calling for the fall of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi broke out soon after Friday prayers in several locations across the country - including Luxor, Qena and Sohag - for a second week in a row.

They came even after rights groups say more than 2,000 people, many of them under the age of 25, have been arrested in the past week, with the UN calling on Egyptian authorities to "radically change their approach" and immediately release those arrested solely for exercising their rights.

SOURCE: MIDDLEEASTEYE.NET
Egyptian activists have held protests against the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in the largest demonstrations since the former army general tightened his grip on the country.

Crowds gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the site of the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, on Friday night and early on Saturday, calling for an end to Sisi's rule.

"The people want to topple the regime," shouted demonstrators in Tahrir Square, according to a video posted on Twitter, echoing the chants of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa.

Footage showing anti-Sisi demonstrations in other cities including Alexandria, Suez, Gharbiya and Mahala, Mansoura and Damietta, continued to surface online into the early hours of Saturday.

Aside from Saudi Arabia's MbS, the other long forgotten about Middle East autocratic ally of the United States known for arresting journalists, authors and activists is President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The strongman known lately for aggressively cracking down on civil liberties, including muzzling journalists and throwing media figures and activists in jail, is also set to rule for another solid decade, given months ago Egyptian parliament approved constitutional changes to allow the sitting president to stay in power until 2030.

Egypt, the United States and the United Arab Emirates forces continued their joint military drill Eagle Salute – Eagle Response 2019 on Monday in the territorial waters of the Red Sea, according the Egyptian Armed Forces.

Saudi Arabia is participating in the exercises as an observer. Various naval units from the Egyptian, US, and UAE naval forces are taking part in the exercise that is set to last for several days.

The forces are using frigates, missile-launching boats, and mine hunters in the exercises. Special naval units, the coast guard, and F16 jet fighters are taking part in the drills.

American culpability in Egypt’s failed democratic experiment was the culmination of decades of foreign policy. For more than half a century, the US government has squandered some $70 billion in mostly military aid to Egypt. The largesse ramped up after the signing of the Camp David accords in 1979 to ensure a compliant Egyptian partner in a peace treaty with Israel.

Washington was not about to jeopardize its investment in Israel’s regional hegemony and its continued occupation of the Palestinians.

In return, the Egyptian military has been a reliable partner in providing cover and support for Israel and in suppressing Islamist participation in Egyptian politics since the early 1950s.

Under the programme of ‘Excess Defence Articles’ (EDA) affiliated to United States Defence Ministry which works to get rid of surplus military equipment and dedicates it to ‘friendly countries and allies,’ Egypt received 101 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) armoured vehicles.

According to media statements out from US Security Assistance Command Country Programme Manager Shawn Arrance, these vehicles will be used by Egypt in the fight against terrorism and are part of a broad range of military cooperation initiatives between the two countries.

The British government issued a travel warning for Egypt on Saturday citing a “heightened risk of terrorism against aviation,” as British Airways and German carrier Lufthansa suspended flights to Cairo as a security "precaution."

British Airways flights were suspended for seven days, while Lufthansa flights will resume on Sunday.

"There’s a heightened risk of terrorism against aviation," The United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said in a statement. "Additional security measures are in place for flights departing from Egypt to the UK. You should co-operate fully with security officials at airports."

British Airways and Lufthansa — two of Europe's largest airlines — abruptly stopped flights to Cairo on Saturday, even as flights were about to board.

The historian postulated that the shaft, accessible from the Sphinx’s “hind quarters”, leads to a chamber of natural origins that was “worked by man” and once served as a resting place for a body.

Historian Matt Sibson, the man behind the “Ancient Architects” YouTube channel, has recently announced yet another interesting discovery related to the famous ancient Egyptian monument known as the Great Sphinx of Giza, and the mysteries that might be lurking beneath it.

In one of his recent videos, Sibson pointed at the existence of what appears to be a burial chamber concealed underneath the Sphinx and accessible via a long vertical shaft, with the entrance located in the back of the monument where its "hip" connects with the "body".

Tehran's threats of retaliation against the UK for seizing a tanker carrying Iranian crude oil for export have prompted a British vessel to shelter in the Gulf, but the rest of the world doesn't seem to be taking them too seriously.

Citing local press reports, Middle East Monitor said Tuesday that a Ukrainian tanker carrying Iranian oil as it passed through the Suez Canal ten days ago was seized by the Egyptian government, just as Egypt's State Security Criminal Court was sentencing six people to lengthy jail terms allegedly for spying for Iran.

Egypt is a staunch ally of the US, and as a Sunni-majority country, would naturally align with the UAE and Saudi Arabia in their efforts to contain Iran. Egypt also supports the Saudi-backed coalition in Yemen that is fighting to retain control in that country's brutal civil war. Cairo has condemned the Houthis for the recent spate of attacks on Saudi infrastructure that have inflamed tensions in the region.

It has often been said that President Mohamed Morsi did not die a natural death, as many insisted that he was killed. The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan questioned the way Morsi died, and said that he would raise the issue during the G20 summit. The German Foreign Ministry and several human rights organisations have called for a neutral international investigation into the real cause of the former Egyptian President’s death, proving that he did not die as a result of medical negligence, as many say, although Morsi was actually neglected deliberately.

But what prompted them to doubt the circumstances of his death?

There are many uncertainties and facts that may raise doubts:

Pakistani nuclear physicist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan has revealed key facts about the reason behind the 2013 coup against Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and the role played by the US, Israel and internal agents in these events.

Khan – who is described as the “father of the Pakistani atomic bomb” – wrote in a testimony on Facebook that “President Morsi travelled to Russia, India and Pakistan, but many do not know that he agreed with the Russians to re-operate an Egyptian nuclear reactor enriched with uranium that would generate electricity. He also agreed to establish another reactor that Egypt would receive three years later, for the same purpose”.

“It would have been better for me not to speak about Egyptian affairs,” Khan added, “but the Egyptian people need to know the truth in order to decide the fate of President Morsi.”

Ye Gods, how brave was our response to the outrageous death-in-a-cage of Mohamed Morsi. It is perhaps a little tiresome to repeat all the words of regret and mourning, of revulsion and horror, of eardrum-busting condemnation pouring forth about the death of Egypt’s only elected president in his Cairo courtroom this week. From Downing Street and from the White House, from the German Chancellery to the Elysee – and let us not forget the Berlaymont – our statesmen and women did us proud. Wearying it would be indeed to dwell upon their remorse and protests at Morsi’s death.

For it was absolutely non-existent: zilch; silence; not a mutter; not a bird’s twitter – or a mad president’s Twitter, for that matter – or even the most casual, offhand word of regret. Those who claim to represent us were mute, speechless, as sound-proofed as Morsi was in his courtroom cage and as silent as he is now in his Cairo grave.

Professor Seif Da'na discusses the circumstances under which former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi collapsed and died and the Egyptian government's fear of an uprising

Mohamed Morsi will forever be remembered as Egypt’s first democratically-elected President, something that his enemies can never take away from him. Yesterday, he collapsed and died in a Cairo courtroom just moments after he had addressed the hearing from a cage; he was facing ludicrous charges of espionage linked to the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas.

Unsurprisingly, the Muslim Brotherhood called his death “murder”, an accusation that is not as outrageous as it might sound. I would call it a political assassination in full view of a watching world. The consequences of this in the volatile Middle East could be horrific, considering the paranoia of the Egyptian regime under its current dictator.

The Independent has reported today that prison guards in the courtroom where Morsi collapsed on Monday left the former president of Egypt for over 20 minutes before administering first aid, despite the fact that people around him were calling for help.

Morsi collapsed at a court session on 17 June after suffering six years in prison in solitary confinement where he was consistently denied access to medical care for his diabetes, hypertension and liver and kidney disease.

Egypt’s first democratically elected president met an end as dramatic as his one and only year in power.

The date alone on which it happened is significant. Mohamed Morsi died on 17 June, seven years to the day from the second round of his presidential election.

For all of his time in prison, Morsi was held in solitary confinement. He was allowed only three visits from his family in nearly six years. The state had ample opportunity to kill off a diabetic who suffered from high blood pressure in private, but if they wanted to convince the Egyptian people that their former president was dead, the job would have to be done in public, which is what Monday’s events were all about.

The cruellest pharaoh

We will never know the truth. Morsi’s nemesis, the man he handpicked to lead the army and who went on to depose him, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, will never allow for an international investigation. Egypt is ruled by a pharaoh as absolute and cruel as any in its long history.

The dramatic death on Monday of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s only democratically elected president in recent history, was no surprise.

It is hard to imagine a more ironic timing – just two weeks short of the sixth anniversary of his overthrow and arrest following a military coup which removed him from office one year into his presidency.

The only surprise is that he lasted this long under such deplorable conditions.

Egypt’s deposed President Mohamed Morsi has died following a session in court, a state-run television station and newspaper reported on Monday.

Morsi, 67, fell into a coma after attending a session in his trial over charges of espionage, according to al-Ahram newspaper.

In the session he was granted permission to address the judge, al-Ahram said. After the session was adjourned, the former president fell unconscious and died.

Egypt strongly condemned the attack on four ships near the territorial waters of the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, which was described as an act of sabotage. Egypt also condemned all illegal acts that would harm the national security of the UAE and safety of its land and sea borders.

In a statement, Egypt’s ministry of foreign affairs stressed its solidarity with the government and people of the UAE in facing all the challenges they might face, and confronting all attempts to destabilise the UAE.

Voting has begun in Egypt, in a referendum that could extend President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's rule until 2030. Sisi came to power after a 2013 military coup, against Egypt’s first freely–elected President Mohamed Morsi.

A high-ranking IDF leader has revealed that Israel orchestrated the downfall of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and the rise of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s thinly disguised military dictatorship. Israel preferred this normalizing leader to his somewhat pro-Palestine predecessor.

Brigadier General Aryeh Eldad of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has claimed that Israel was behind the 2013 military coup that ousted Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president. Eldad made the claim in an article published in the Israeli newspaper Maariv.

In the article, Eldad asserted:

"The outbreak of the January revolution coincided with the Israeli security assessment that President-elect Mohamed Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood man, intended to cancel the peace agreement with Israel and send more Egyptian military forces to the Sinai Peninsula."

Pop quiz: name the two largest (by far) recipients of U.S. foreign military aid and one other country which recently negotiated the biggest American arms sale deal in world history. Let’s call them the Big three (beneficiaries of largesse, that is).

Ready for the (not-so) shocking answers? So, the military dictatorship is Egypt – recipient of $1.3 billion in military aid per annum. The nation that conquered and annexed adjacent territory is Israel – the donee of some $3.1 billion in military aid each year; and, ironically, the state that US leaders regularly (if incorrectly) tout as the “only democracy in the Mideast.” And the charming, child-starving, woman-beheading regime: that’s the theocracy and absolute monarchy of Saudi Arabia – future owner (maybe) of a record $110 billion in US military equipment. Now that’s a proud lot!

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have rallied at the Israel-Gaza fence to mark the first anniversary of the "Great March of Return" protests, facing off against Israeli tanks and troops massed on the fortified perimeter.

Israeli forces on Saturday used live rounds, rubber bullets and tear gas on the protesters, killing a 17-year-old boy at a protest site east of Gaza city, and wounding at least 59 people, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Another Palestinian was killed in an overnight demonstration ahead of the main protest, the ministry said.

Palestinians are demanding the right to return to lands from which their families were violently expelled during the founding of Israel in 1948. They are also calling for an end to Israel's and Egypt's 12-year blockade of Gaza.

US President Donald Trump will host his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the White House on April 9. Military, economic and counterterrorism cooperation between the two states will be discussed, the White House said on Friday. The two leaders will also discuss developments and shared priorities in the region, including enhancing regional economic integration and addressing ongoing conflicts, the statement said.

The Egyptian team tasked with mediating an agreement to end days of fighting in the Gaza Strip continued with its shuttle diplomacy Thursday afternoon, returning to Israel at around 1pm, after meeting with Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups.

The delegation, made up of Egyptian intelligence officials, returned from Gaza via the Erez Crossing, to convey the Hamas response to an Israeli proposal for restoring calm along the border.

gypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi held a tripartite summit with Jordanian King Abdullah II and Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi on Sunday, during which they enacted several agreements that aimed to boost their relations.

Earlier on Sunday, Al-Sisi received King Abdullah at the presidential palace in Cairo, prior to the summit, and attended a military parade held in honour of King Abdullah.

During the Egyptian-Jordanian-Iraqi summit, the leaders highlighted their countries’ deep historical ties and stressed the importance of working together to enhance the level of coordination between the three countries.

Furthermore, the leaders reviewed the latest regional developments, and agreed to coordinate strategically among themselves and with the rest of the Arab countries to restore stability in the region and to find solutions to the crises facing it, especially the Palestinian cause.

An Egyptian singer has been banned from performing in her home country after suggesting that it does not respect free speech.

A video clip circulated online shows Sherine Abdel-Wahab, during a performance in Bahrain, saying: "Here I can say whatever I want. In Egypt, anyone who talks gets imprisoned."

Egypt's Musicians Union responded late Friday by barring the singer, popularly known by her first name, from performing. It also summoned her for questioning.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Cairo considers the Golan Heights as occupied Syrian land. The statement rejects a call by US President Donald Trump to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war. The Egyptian ministry cited UN Security Council resolution 497 of 1981 which rejected Israel’s annexation of the territory.

Olmert, who offered an exclusive interview to Channel 13’s Udi Segal, said he did not think at the time that the shipyard building strategic weapons for Israel would sell submarines to Egypt.

The discovery of the giant gas field Tamar off the coast of Israel in 2009 was the beginning of a new period for the Eastern Mediterranean as an energy hot spot. More recently Exxon and Qatar Gas have discovered another giant gas field off the coast of Cyprus, and Italy’s Eni found more energy deposits off the coast of Egypt. To put the numbers into perspective, the Eastern Mediterranean contains approximately 2,100 billion cubic meters of gas compared to the EU’s consumption in 2017 which was 410 bcm. It shows that the recoverable reserves are more than sufficient to supply the entire EU for a couple of years.

US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joe Dunford issued a statement Monday denying weekend media reports that the US plans to leave around 1,000 troops in Syria, saying the reports are “factually incorrect.”

Dunford presented the current planned “residual force” as 200, saying that this hadn’t changed since February. The US announced 200 would stay on February 21, but on February 22 officially increased that number to 400.

It’s not clear from Dunford’s statement where the “incorrect” aspect of the new report, which came out of a Wall Street Journal, exists. That report suggested that the 1,000 figure was not yet finalized, but was being discussed. Dunford’s comments didn’t include any details on what is actually being discussed, but just that nothing was finalized.

Russia has signed a contract with Egypt for the supply of several dozen heavy Su-35 multi-role fighters, according to two top managers of defense industry enterprises.

According to them, the relevant agreement covers the supply of “over two dozen machines” and related parts to them in the sum of about $ 2 billion, entered into force at the end of 2018, and deliveries can begin as early as 2020–2021. The sources declined to disclose the cost of the contract, but noted that it “guarantees the capacity utilization of the manufacturer of the machine, the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant, for several years ahead.”

As the newspaper notes, in the coming years, along with the MiG-29M / M2 medium fighters supplied to Egypt, they should significantly increase the combat potential of the Egyptian air force fleet, which are still armed with outdated Soviet MiG-21s and Chinese J-7s.

Funeral prayers were held in Cairo and Sharqiya on Sunday to mourn the deaths of an officer and soldiers killed in an attack on Egypt's military in the Sinai Peninsula.

The Saturday's attack on the Egyptian army checkpoint in the restive Sinai had caused 15 casualties, while seven of the suspected Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) fighters were killed, the military said.

The breakdown of the military casualties was not immediately clear. Two security sources told the Reuters news agency some of the injuries were serious.

European Union officials have begun talks with counterparts in several Middle Eastern countries, including Egypt and Turkey, about proposed data-sharing deals that would allow Europol to exchange personal information about suspects with local law enforcement authorities.

In some circumstances, the deals could allow the transfer of data concerning a person’s race and ethnic origin, their political opinions and religious beliefs, trade-union memberships, genetic data and data concerning their health and sex life.

The deals are being sought by the EU as part of efforts to bolster counter-terrorism policing across the continent despite concerns being raised about the human rights records of the countries by the bloc’s own data protection watchdog.

Since the start of the year, Egypt has executed a number of prisoners convicted in cases in which several said they had been tortured into false confessions.

Egypt’s General Intelligence Service has earned around five billion Egyptian pounds (about $2.9 billion) from a recent consulting deal signed between the government and the Egyptian Media Group.

Well-informed sources at the country’s official Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) – also known as Maspero – reported the huge profits yesterday, telling the New Khaleej that the deal, which was signed late last month, was a “direct order by the Egyptian presidency in favour of the intelligence directorate, which owns the [Egyptian Media] group”.

Under the five-year agreement, the sources explained, Egyptian Media Group would implement plans to oversee 23 television stations and 76 radio stations, some of which would be merged and others which would be cancelled.

Israel Hayom has learned that alongside Jerusalem’s decision to postpone the transfer of Qatari funds to Hamas following the escalation on Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, Egypt has issued the terrorist organization’s political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh (pictured) an ultimatum.

Cairo has made it clear that Haniyeh must decide whether “Hamas takes its orders from Tehran or continues to implement the understandings for calm” formulated by the head of Egyptian intelligence Abbas Kamel.

A senior Egyptian intelligence official told Israel Hayom that senior Hamas members, chief among them Haniyeh, had contacted Kamel with the request that Israel be sent the message that “Hamas was not involved in the grave events on the border.”

The alliance between Israel and Egypt is now stronger than ever.

Egyptian ruler Abdulfattah al-Sisi acknowledged recently that the two countries have been cooperating to an unprecedented level on security in the Sinai peninsula. Following that admission, Israel and Egypt have reached a deal on their most significant economic cooperation to date.

Israel is taking part in preparations for establishing the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum. That gas market – to be based in Egypt – will include Jordan, Italy, Cyprus, Greece and the Palestinian Authority.

The forum aims to “create a regional gas market that serves the interests of its members by ensuring supply and demand, optimizing resource development, rationalizing the cost of infrastructure, offering competitive prices and improving trade relations,” Egypt’s petroleum ministry stated, according to Reuters.

Egypt’s President Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi recently spoke at a forum, where he in plain language told those who have moved or want to move to Europe.

“If you go to another country, you must follow their laws and culture, if not, don’t go there”, he said.

In November, al-Sisi attended the World Youth Forum in Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt. He was asked how he sees the fact that several European countries are now closing the door to those who want to migrate to Europe.

His answer was clear:

“Instead of asking me why Europe closes the door to us, you should ask why people in Afghanistan don’t take better care of their country. The same applies to Pakistan, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Iraq, Yemen and Somalia.”

Israel has confirmed it is in extensive talks with Egypt to build a new sub-sea natural gas pipeline between the two countries as part of a previously agreed $15 billion deal to export Israeli gas to Egypt over a decade. Most significant is that the new line would hugely expand Israel's export capacity to its southern Arab neighbor, taking it far beyond the maximum 7 billion cubic meters per year currently able to flow through the existing EMG pipeline to Sinai.

Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz proclaimed the ambitious project under negotiation to be part of broader "efforts to transform the eastern Mediterranean into an energy export hub on the doorstep of Europe," according to Bloomberg.

“There’s no final decision yet, but there are talks,” Steinitz told Bloomberg while attending the Cairo-sponsored first East Mediterranean Gas Forum, a cooperative forum aimed at expanding east Mediterranean energy transformation and joint ventures.

For Saied Abu Asker, 2018 will be remembered as the year he was shot with two explosive bullets.

He is among numerous Palestinians to have been injured while taking part in the Great March of Return. The protests – held on a regular basis since late March – have been called to demand that the rights of Palestine’s refugees be upheld.

Abu Asker has paid a heavy price for demanding his basic rights. The Israeli snipers who fired at him caused serious damage to the pelvis area of his body while protesting east of Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza on 1 June.

It didn’t take long for the vise on Gaza’s long-suffering population to be tightened in the new year.

The Palestinian Authority, headed by Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank, withdrew its personnel from the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt overnight Sunday.

The move amounts to the effective closure of the sole point of exit and entry for the vast majority of Gaza’s more than two million residents.

Hamas authorities have resumed control over the Gaza side of the crossing, after having handed it over to the Palestinian Authority last November, but it is unclear whether Egypt will reopen Rafah.

Egypt has demanded that CBS not air an impending broadcast of a 60 Minutes interview with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who had willingly sat down with Scott Pelley in New York for the segment.

According to CBS, "The 60 Minutes team was contacted by the Egyptian Ambassador shortly after and told the interview could not be aired," however the network was not swayed, but affirmed that "The interview will be broadcast on 60 Minutes, Sunday, January 6 at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS."

A military drill between six Red Sea countries was launched in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, according to the kingdom’s official SPA news agency.

The Red Wave 1 exercise brings together naval forces from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, Yemen and Djibouti. Observers from Somalia are also taking part in the drill.

“The exercise aims to strengthen maritime security of the countries bordering the Red Sea, protect territorial waters, enhance military cooperation and exchange combat expertise,” commander of Saudi Arabia’s Western Fleet, Major-General Saqr bin Mohammed al-Harbi, said.

The military drill is scheduled to continue until Thursday.

Egyptian archaeologists have discovered the tomb of a priest dating back more than 4,400 years in the pyramid complex of Saqqara south of the capital Cairo, authorities said Saturday.

"Today we are announcing the last discovery of the year 2018, it's a new discovery, it's a private tomb," Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Enany told an audience of invited guests including reporters.

"It is exceptionally well preserved, coloured, with sculpture inside. It belongs to a high official priest... (and) is more than 4,400 years old," he said.

The tomb belongs to "Wahtye", a high priest who served during the fifth dynasty reign of King Neferirkare, the antiquities ministry said.

Egypt has restricted the sale of yellow reflective vests to deter regime opponents from mimicking French protesters, as a copycat movement, dubbed the “red vests”, launched in nearby Tunisia.

The new measures in Egypt were quietly put in place ahead of next month’s seventh anniversary of the country’s Arab Spring uprising, as officials fear protests could erupt against the military-led government.

Security officials and retailers reported that industrial safety equipment dealers are now not permitted to sell the yellow vests to walk-in buyers, the “gilets jaunes” worn by French protesters in recent rallies and riots. Sellers are restricted to doing wholesale business deals with verified companies as long as they secure police permission. The officials told Associated Press (AP) told offenders would be punished but did not elaborate.

The Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Mohamed Shaker, and head of the Nuclear Power Plant Authority Amjad al-Wakeel, will hold a meeting with officials of the Russian company Rosatom on the sidelines of President Abdul Fattah El-Sisi’s visit to Moscow.

Shaker told Daily News Egypt that the operation of the Dabaa nuclear station is proceeding normally, and the project needs time to implement, and denied the reported cancellation of the contract. “Rumours are absolutely untrue. We agreed on a timetable and identified the cost and completed the work on the project,” he stressed.

The meeting will include the follow-up of the current position of the Dabaa Nuclear Plant Project, which is being implemented, and reviewing the characteristics of the project, the specifications of the selection of companies participating in the operational work of the station, as well as setting the timetable for the implementation of the project.

Gaza's Health Ministry says 32 Palestinians have been wounded by Israeli fire during a mass protest along the beach near the Israeli frontier.

Protesters threw flaming tires over the fence Monday, while fishing boats hoisted Palestinian flags. Israeli forces responded with tear gas and live fire.

The ruling Hamas militant group has been staging border protests for the past six months in hopes of easing a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade.

The only promise that is new about the promised peace plan is the way it will be forced on the Palestinians: no one has promised that the plan itself will be new. With Saudi Arabia and Egypt—the outside—brought onside with the promise of continued military aid despite their crimes against humanity and violations of international law and the Palestinians weakened by being silenced, economically crushed and stripped of any friends to help them, the United States and Israel are now free to attempt to impose a peace plan on the Palestinians.

The Israeli news website Wallah revealed yesterday that the Egyptian delegation which visited Gaza on Saturday passed a message from Israel to Hamas, Al-Wattan Voice reported.

The Egyptians, the news website said, told Hamas that Israel is asking for an end to the demonstrations taking place near the fence along the eastern side of the Gaza Strip and to halt flying incendiary balloons.

According to the Israeli website the Egyptian intelligence delegation met with the Hamas leadership in Gaza and passed on the Israeli demands.

Years later, when I became an avid reader of history and military texts, it became clear to me that the collective Shoah dread into which we immersed ourselves was a manifestation of Jewish pre traumatic stress disorder (Pre TSD). We were tormented by a phantasmic fear. Neither the Syrians nor the Egyptian armies had plans to ‘destroy Israel,’ wipe out the Jewish state or ‘throw the Jews into the sea’. Their military objectives were, in fact, very limited. Neither the Egyptians nor the Syrians wished to expand their military ground operation beyond a few miles into the Sinai and the Golan Heights. Both Arab armies were dependent on Soviet ground to air missiles that severely limited Israeli air superiority above the battlefield. The Soviet missile umbrella provided about 10 miles of anti air cover and the Arab armies had no intent to proceed beyond that ‘safe’ zone.

: An Egyptian criminal court ordered the arrest of ousted President Hosni Mubarak's two sons on charges of stock market manipulation, state news agency MENA reported Saturday.

Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, with seven other men, are accused of violating stock market and central bank rules to make unlawful profits through dealing in shares of Al Watany Bank of Egypt.

They deny any wrongdoing.

Three other men including Yasser El Mallawany and Hassan Heikal, current and former board members respectively at Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes, were also arrested, a judicial source said.

The advisory also warns military activities linked to the bloody conflict in Syria have been ramped across Iran's airspace.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington are running high following Donald Trump’s controversial decision to pull out of the landmark Iran nuclear deal re-introduce economic sanctions last month.

Flight Service Bureau, which provides safety information on airspace to airlines, said "without seeming alarmist", the deteriorating relationship between the US and Iran must be taken into account when planning flights in Iran's airspace.