Tag Archive for Egypt

| November 26, 2012
No comments

Negotiations in Egypt begin hammering out cease-fire details with Israel & Hamas

US links end to munitions smuggling to easing security restrictions on Gaza

Washington’s unequivocal support of Israel’s right to self defense is key element in making cease-fire possible.

By HERB KEINON

 

 

Washington understands well that Israel’s restrictions on the Gaza Strip are related to arms smuggling, and that a total relaxation of the restrictions would necessitate assurances that arms stop pouring into the enclave, a senior US official said Monday.

IDF vehicle patrols along Gaza border fence - Photo: REUTERS

IDF vehicle patrols along Gaza border fence – Photo: REUTERS

 

The official’s comments came as Egyptian mediators began separate talks Monday with Hamas and Israel to flesh out details of last Wednesday’s cease-fire.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , , ,
| November 23, 2012
No comments

President’s backers clash with rivals in Egypt

15 reported injured as opponents & supporters of Muslim Brotherhood clash across country day after Morsi granted himself sweeping new powers.

Protesters burn Muslim Brotherhood offices.

Associated Press

 

Opponents and supporters of Mohammed Morsi clashed across Egypt on Friday, the day after the president granted himself sweeping new powers that critics fear can allow him to be a virtual dictator. At least 15 were reported injured.

In a sign of deepening polarization, state TV reported that protesters burned offices of the political arm of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group on several cities on the Suez Canal east of Cairo and in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, while Islamists engaged with fistfights with Morsi opponents in southern Egypt. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| November 21, 2012
No comments

BREAKING NEWS: After 8 day of conflict, ceasfire at 21:00

Egypt FM announces that Israel and Hamas have agreed that a cease-fire will go into effect at 9pm local time.

By REUTERS

 

 

Kamal Amr makes formal announcement of truce in joint press conference with Clinton in Cairo; sources say Israel will not lift Gaza blockade; Netanyahu tells Obama he’s ready to give cease-fire a chance.

Egypt announced on Wednesday that a cease-fire had been reached to end eight days of  fighting between Israel and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, starting at 9 p.m.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr made the announcement in a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| November 19, 2012
2 comments

Israel Gives Hamas a 36-Hr Ultimatum: Stop, Or Else!

Diplomatic message to Morsi: Hamas terrorism must cease by Tuesday evening or Ground Incursion is on

By Gil Ronen

 

Israel has delivered an ultimatum to Hamas through Egypt, according to which the IDF will widen its offensive in Gaza in 36 hours unless Hamas ceases firing rockets and smuggling arms into Gaza, IDF Radio reported Monday morning.

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz told the station that the time left before Israel steps up its attack can be measured in “hours, not days.”

“We are at a junction,” he said. “Either we go toward a calm or toward a meaningful widening of the operation… including a possible move to achieve complete military decision.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| November 17, 2012
No comments

Egypt to host Turkey, Qatar & Hamas on Gaza predicament.

4-way meeting on Gaza to take place in Cairo at Morsi’s invitation.

By REUTERS

 

CAIRO – Egypt’s president will hold four-way talks with the Qatari emir, the prime minister of Turkey and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Cairo on Saturday to discuss the Gaza crisis, a presidential source said.

MOHAMED MORSI, center, prays at Al-Azhar mosque in - Photo: REUTERS

MOHAMED MORSI, center, prays at Al-Azhar mosque in – Photo: REUTERS

Egypt has been working to reinstate a truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, after an informal truce brokered by Cairo broke down.

Israel launched  Operation Pillar of Defense on Wednesday with the declared aim of deterring Hamas from launching cross-border rocket salvos that have plagued southern Israel for years. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , ,
| November 15, 2012
No comments

Egyptian PM delegation headed to Gaza

Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil expected to arrive in Gaza tomorrow for talks with Hamas.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

A high-level Egyptian delegation is expected to arrive in the Gaza Strip Friday for talks with Hamas leaders on ways of ending the current round of fighting with Israel, a Hamas spokesman said.

PM Hisham Kandil speaks to Egyptian cabinet

PM Hisham Kandil speaks to Egyptian cabinet
Photo: REUTERS/Handout .

The delegation will be headed by Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil and will consist of a number of Egyptian cabinet ministers, Taher a-Nunu, spokesman for the Hamas government, announced Thursday.

This would be the first visit to the Gaza Strip by an Egyptian prime minister.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| November 3, 2012
No comments

Senior Israeli defense official: Egypt’s Morsi refuses to talk to us

Amos Gilad described Morsi’s gov’t as a ‘terrible dictatorship.
Israel must safeguard the peace treaty with Egypt ‘at any cost.’

By

 

Senior Israeli defense official Amos Gilad came out against the Muslim Brotherhood leadership in Egypt on Friday, describing it as a “terrible dictatorship,” and saying President Mohammed Morsi’s regime “won’t talk” to Israel.

Supporters of Mohammed Morsi celebrate his election as president of Egypt

Supporters of Mohammed Morsi celebrate his election as president of Egypt, June 2012 – Photo by Reuters

Speaking to students at an event in the Israeli city of Herzliya, Gilad said that “out of a desire for democracy, a terrible dictatorship has arisen” in Egypt, where the Muslim Brotherhood came to power after elections earlier this year. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| November 1, 2012
No comments

Defense Minister Reports: Israel won’t even outsource its security to most trusted allies

Defense Minister Barak says Jerusalem will not rely even on “closest, most trusted allies” to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

 

Israel will not outsource its vital security interests to anyone, “not even to our closest and most trusted allies,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in London on Wednesday.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak - Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

Defense Minister Ehud Barak – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

Speaking at the British Israel Communications and Research Center, Barak addressed Iran’s uranium enrichment program: “All options are on the table to prevent Iran from crossing the point of no return. We expect all those who say it to mean it; we mean it.”

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| October 27, 2012
No comments

Al-Qaida leader urges Muslims to wage Jihad against U.S. & Israel

Ayman al-Zawahri praises demonstrators who stormed U.S. consulate in Benghazi & U.S. embassy in Cairo

By Reuters

 

Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri said a film made in the United States mocking the Prophet Mohammed showed Washington was waging a “crusader Zionist war” against Muslims and he called for more protests outside American embassies.

Ayman al-Zawahri

Ayman al-Zawahri, al-Qaida leader. – Photo by Reuters

Like in other messages released by al-Qaida’s Yemeni and North African branches last month, Zawahiri praised last month’s assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that killed four diplomats but stopped short of claiming responsibility.

In the recording, posted on Islamist websites on Friday, he called on “free and distinguished zealots for Islam” who attacked the consulate and protested outside other American embassies to “continue their opposition to American crusader Zionist aggression against Islam and Muslims”. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| October 13, 2012
No comments

Egypt grants citizenship to 50,000 Palestinians

 

Egyptian newspaper El-Watan reports Interior Ministry instructed to give citizenship to all Palestinians with Egyptian mothers.

 

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

Some 50,000 Palestinians, most of them from the Gaza Strip, have been granted Egyptian citizenship over the past few months, an Egyptian security official revealed Thursday.

Palestinians returning from Egypt cross into Gaza

Palestinians returning from Egypt cross into Gaza – Photo: REUTERS

The official said that the Egyptian Interior Ministry had been instructed to give Egyptian citizenship to all Palestinians who were born to Egyptian mothers.

The official, who was not identified, told the Egyptian newspaper El-Watan that the instructions came from the country’s High Administrative Court in Cairo last May.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| October 12, 2012
No comments

Over 100 injured in Egypt as liberals & Islamists clash

Opponents & the supporters of Egyptian President Morsi hurl petrol bombs & stones.

Two buses torched as Health Ministry reports 110 people injured.

By Reuters

 

Opponents and supporters of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi clashed in Cairo on Friday in the first street violence between rival factions since the Islamist leader took office.

An anti-Muslim Brotherhood demonstrator throws stones during clashes in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

An anti-Muslim Brotherhood demonstrator throws stones during clashes in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, October 12, 2012. – Photo by Reuters

Islamists and their opponents threw stones, bottles and petrol bombs, and some fought hand-to-hand, showing how feelings still run high between the rival groups trying to shape the new Egypt after decades of autocracy, even though the streets have generally been calmer since Morsi’s election in June. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| October 7, 2012
No comments

Egyptian president: Egyptians will never forget 1973 ‘historic victory’ over Israel

Morsi  tells cheering crowd in Cairo Egypt won its ‘land & dignity’ back during October war

Small rally held in support of real ‘war hero’ Mubarak, outside prison

By Elior Levy, Yonatan Gonen

 

Addressing tens of thousands of Egyptians Saturday evening during a ceremony commemorating the 39th anniversary of Egypt’s “victory” over Israel during the October 1973 war, President Mohamed Morsi said, “It was a monumental event. We will never forget the heroes and shahids (martyrs).”

Morsi during ceremony, Saturday – Photo: AP

Morsi was elected president of Egypt after Hosni Mubarak, a hero of the Yom Kippur War, was ousted. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| September 30, 2012
2 comments

Both Egypt & Turkey pledge support for Palestinian cause & denounce Syrian regime

Erdogan says Turkey determined to speak out against Israel’s ‘state terrorism’ and Egypt’s new president & Turkish PM call on China, Russia & Iran to stop backing Assad regime.

Turkey and Egypt sought to boost their alliance in a turbulent region on Sunday, unleashing harsh criticism of the Syrian regime and pledging joint support for the Palestinian cause.

Erdogan and Morsi in Ankara - AP - Sept. 30, 2012

In this photo provided by Turkish Prime Minister’s Press Service,Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi in Ankara, Sept. 30, 2012. – Photo by AP

Egypt’s new president, Mohammed Morsi, addressed a major congress of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, amid signs that a partnership between their two countries is emerging, and said they both plan to stand by Palestinians and the Syrian people. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , , ,
| September 30, 2012
No comments

To Save Her Baby, Gaza Mom Goes to Israeli Hospital

A Gaza mother accepts doctors’ advice & took her fourth to Israel after losing first 3 babies to rare birth defects in Egyptian hospitals.

By Chana Ya’ar

 

A Palestinian Authority mother from Gaza is home with a healthy baby thanks to Israeli doctors in Kfar Sava, after a complicated surgery.

After losing three babies to rare birth defects at Egyptian hospitals, Jian Abu Agram, 31, was faced with a difficult decision last year after another child was born last April with the same condition.

After speaking with her doctors, Agram took their advice and traveled through the Erez crossing with her infant daughter to Israel, where doctors at Meir Hospital performed intestinal surgery on the little girl. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| September 29, 2012
No comments

Congress blocks White House’s $450M in US aid to Egypt

House GOP chair opposes White House’s desire to send Cairo regime more U.S. aid funds

Yitzhak Benhorin, AP

 

WASHINGTON – The chairwoman of the House committee that oversees foreign aid is blocking $450 million in US assistance to Egypt.

Morsi at the UN Photo: AP

Morsi at the UN – Photo: AP

Kay Granger (R-Texas), said Friday that the State Department had notified Congress of plans to transfer the money to the new government of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, a move that Granger said she would stop.

“This proposal comes to Congress at a point when the US-Egypt relationship has never been under more scrutiny, and rightly so,” the chairwoman of the Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations said in a statement. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
« Older Entries   Recent Entries »