CAIRO: Masked militants riding in three SUVs opened fire Friday on a bus packed with Coptic Christians, including children, south of the Egyptian capital, killing at least 28 people and wounding 22, the Interior Ministry said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, the fourth to target Christians since December, but it bore the hallmarks of the Daesh group. The attack came on the eve of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Militants have for years been waging an insurgency mostly centered in the restive northern part of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, although a growing number of attacks have recently also taken place on the mainland.
The assault happened while the bus was traveling on a side road in the desert leading to the remote monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor in Maghagha, in Minya governorate, about 220 kilometers (140 miles) south of Cairo where Christians account for more than 35 percent of the population, the highest ratio in any province.
Security officials quoted witnesses as saying they saw between eight and 10 attackers dressed in military uniforms and wearing masks. The victims were en route from the nearby province of Beni Suef to visit the monastery.
Security and medical officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters, said the death toll stood at 28 but feared it could rise. According to Copts United news portal, only three children survived the attack. It was not immediately known how many of the victims were children.
Arab TV stations showed images of a badly damaged bus along a roadside, many of its windows shattered and with numerous bullet holes. Footage of the bus’s interior showed blood stains on the seats and shattered glass.
Ambulances are seen parked around the bus and bodies are lying on the ground, covered with black plastic sheets. Another video purported to show about 10 bodies of mature men lying on the sand on the side of the road with pools of blood around them. Children hysterically screaming could be heard in the background.
The surge in attacks targeting Christians in Egypt has added to the challenges facing President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi’s government as it struggles to contain the insurgency while pushing ahead with an ambitious and politically sensitive reform program to revive the country’s ailing economy that already has sent the cost of food and services soaring.
There was no immediate word from the government on how it intends to stop similar attacks from taking place, but it is likely to heighten security around churches, monasteries, schools and annual pilgrimages to remote Christian sites across the country.
On Wednesday, Egypt blocked access to nearly two dozen websites it said were sympathetic to militants or spreading their ideology.
“The growing number of these terror attacks is not at all reassuring,” Father Rafic Greiche, spokesman for the Egyptian Catholic church, told a local television station.
El-Sisi called for a meeting with top aides to discuss Friday’s attack. Last month, he declared a three-month state of emergency following twin suicide bombings that struck two churches north of Cairo on Palm Sunday. In December, a suicide bomber targeted a Cairo church. The attacks left at least 75 dead and scores wounded and were claimed by Daesh, which later vowed more attacks against Christians.
Late last month, Pope Francis visited Egypt, in part to show his support for Christians in this Muslim majority Arab nation following the December and April attacks.
During the trip, Francis paid tribute to the victims of the December bombing in Cairo’s St. Peter’s church, located in close proximity to Cairo’s St. Mark’s cathedral, the seat of the Coptic Orthodox Church. He visited the church, where he joined in prayers the spiritual leader of Egypt’s Orthodox Christians, Pope Tawadros II, and leaders of other Christian churches in Egypt.
Following the pope’s visit, Daesh vowed to escalate attacks against Christians, urging Muslims to steer clear of Christian gatherings and Western embassies, saying they are targets for the group’s followers.
Egypt’s Copts, the Middle East’s largest Christian community, have long complained of discrimination, as well as outright attacks, at the hands of the country’s majority Muslim population. They account for about 10 percent of Egypt’s 93 million people. More recently, some Christians have complained that the government was not doing enough to protect them.
They rallied behind el-Sisi, a general-turned-president, when he in 2013 ousted his Islamist predecessor Muhammad Mursi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood group. Attacks on Christian homes, businesses and churches subsequently surged, especially in the country’s south, the heartland of Egypt’s Christians.
Gunmen kill at least 28 Christians on road to monastery in Egypt
Gunmen kill at least 28 Christians on road to monastery in Egypt
Frankly Speaking: Will President Trump be able to end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine?
- Middle East expert Norman Roule says Trump team members will be no different from Biden officials despite their pro-Israel rhetoric
- Lauds clear position of Kingdom’s foreign minister on two-state solution, says Lebanon war has a simple solution with a difficult approach
DUBAI: After voting for Donald Trump in anger at the Biden administration’s perceived inaction on the Gaza war, many Arab Americans are now voicing concern as the victorious Republican candidate prepares to return to the White House with top team nominees vocal in their support for Israel.
Former senior US intelligence officer Norman Roule, however, says the incoming Trump administration’s policy in this regard will be largely similar to that of President Joe Biden’s.
“It is certainly true that many of the Trump senior designees are openly pro-Israel, but their rhetoric as to what they would do to support Israel is no different than the Biden administration itself,” he said on the Arab News current affairs program “Frankly Speaking.”
He believes one positive thing to look forward to is that Trump would avoid embroiling the US, Israel, or the region in an endless conflict in the Gaza Strip.
“If there is a difference between the Biden approach and the Trump approach,” he said, “the Trump approach might be more of, to the Israeli government: Do what you feel is necessary, but do it efficiently, humanely, and quickly, we’re not looking to support Israel for an endless war there itself.”
Roule stressed that America must end the war and facilitate aid access for the Palestinians in Gaza, who have suffered for over a year from a deepening humanitarian crisis, while at the same time ensuring Israel’s security from Hamas militants.
“First, we must provide humanitarian relief to the Palestinian people who have suffered tremendously, largely because of Hamas’ use of this population as human sacrifice, but we must bring in international aid and end the conflict,” he said.
“But at the same time, we must end the role of Hamas in threatening Israel. It’s not unfair that Israel seeks its security to prevent another repetition of Oct. 7.”
On that fateful day in 2023, Hamas-led Palestinian militants carried out a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 240 others hostage. Israel retaliated by launching a widespread bombing campaign on Gaza, killing at least 44,000 Palestinians within 14 months, according to the local health authority.
Saudi Arabia has consistently condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza, and Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has ruled out normalizing relations with Israel until a Palestinian state is established.
Roule lauded the Saudi leadership’s consistency and clear stance on the Palestine issue.
“The Saudi foreign minister’s position has been consistent, it’s been clear, and it’s been directed to achieve what the entire Arab world seeks — a two-state solution that is fair to the Palestinian people, that allows security for Israel, and does not provide undue diplomatic recognition or other inducements to Israel before that diplomatic solution of the two-state relationship comes about,” he said.
“So, I’m a big fan of Prince Faisal bin Farhan. His comments have been appropriate, and the comments of the Saudi leadership have also been quite clear,” he told Katie Jensen, the host of “Frankly Speaking.”
Roule spent 34 years with the CIA covering the Middle East. For nine of those years, he was the national intelligence manager for Iran at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Drawing on his background, he expressed skepticism about whether all parties would cooperate in reaching a two-state solution. “If that’s going to be difficult with the Israelis, you just have to imagine yourself right now: Is the president of the Palestinian Authority capable politically of bringing the Palestinians to a two-state solution? Will Hamas tolerate that?” he said.
“And, indeed, the question that we all should ask ourselves is, if two-state discussions began today, what would Hamas, the Palestine Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, Iran and the Houthis say about that? Would they support those talks? Would they try to upend those talks?”
According to Roule, the “great unanswered question” is what the international community is doing to ensure that, if a two-state diplomatic approach is reached, it will be protected from “the malign actions of Iran and its proxies.”
Asked if parts of the much-talked-about Saudi-US deal could still move forward despite the Kingdom’s stance on not normalizing relations with Israel without the two-state solution being achieved, he said the two countries “have a separate relationship that needs to progress at the same time.
“And it’s been doing quite well in recent months,” he said. “Both the Biden administration in its remaining time and the (incoming) Trump administration will seek to implement the parts of the deal that are not related to Israel.”
Despite the temporary pause in a comprehensive strategic agreement owing to the Gaza conflict, he sees collaboration continuing in areas like AI, green energy and regional stability.
“We have a massive technological cooperation that’s ongoing, particularly in artificial intelligence,” Roule said. “The issue of data centers is coming to the forefront of the relationship, but also, as the Biden administration was working on its strategic agreement with the Saudi government, the sense in Washington is the movement of that deal was quite positive and was only upended by the Gaza conflict.”
Roule expects to see continued progress on elements of that deal, which “provides Saudi Arabia and the US with what they need to maintain and build what is a very positive and critical relationship for the US and for the region.”
Moving on to Lebanon, Roule said that to bring peace to the war-torn country, “there’s a simple solution with a difficult approach to get there.
“We need first to remove Lebanese Hezbollah north of the Litani (River) to empower the Lebanese armed forces to come south of the Litani and do their job — and be able to do so without fear of Lebanese Hezbollah,” he said.
Nevertheless, he stressed that the first priority is to “end the conflict” and “end the suffering of the Lebanese people, end the suffering of the Israeli people.”
Pointing to the fact that “60,000 Israelis have left their home and prior to the Lebanese recent conflict, 100,000 Lebanese were not going into their homes, and now we have a million displaced Lebanese,” Roule said: “We’ve got to make that our first priority.”
Achieving peace in Lebanon, according to Roule, hinges on one key factor: “The Lebanese people must be willing to stand up against Lebanese Hezbollah.”
Elaborating on the point, he said: “This isn’t something that we’re going to be able to do. And I’ll close by saying that one bit of diplomatic guidance that in the intelligence community we often give to diplomats is: We can’t want a solution more than the people on the ground.
“The Lebanese people must appoint a president, empower their armed forces, push back on Lebanese Hezbollah.”
He is sure that once the Lebanese decide on the political solution, the US “will assist them and support them and provide them with billions of dollars of aid.
“But, at a certain point, the political solution must be their own.”
Asked about the outlook for the war in Lebanon, especially after Israeli official Michael Freund told the Jerusalem Post that southern Lebanon is actually “northern Israel,” Roule said “harsh rhetoric” is “coming from all sides — Lebanese Hezbollah, elements of the Israeli government, and Palestinians themselves — on all of these issues.”
President-elect Trump pledged throughout his campaign to quickly end the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Roule believes that Trump, who opposes “endless wars,” will pursue this goal by surrounding himself with people who share his worldview.
“President Trump does see himself as a deal maker and he assigns to key positions around him individuals with the same worldview,” he said.
“So, you’re going to get individuals who are generally sympathetic toward Israel, confident of the strong US relationship with the Gulf Cooperation Council states, willing to deter Iran, willing to do what it takes to keep the US out of regional conflicts, but willing also to push back on adversaries.”
While Trump does not want to see the US in a war in the Middle East or in Europe any more than President Biden, the two administrations’ approach to these issues in significantly different ways, according to Roule.
“President Trump’s goal appears to be how do we bring some sort of agreement together that stops the killing and restores the diplomatic channels so that we can bring about peace in Europe,” he said.
He added that Trump’s goal in regard to Iran is “probably” similar.
“Iran needs to reduce its nuclear program, cease its regional adventurism, and act like a normal nation,” Roule said. “If Iran is willing to do this, as we’ve seen in the previous Trump administration, they will offer engagement.
“But if not, in either of these cases, what you’re going to see is likely the Trump administration not unwilling to provide Ukraine with more weapons, because Russia won’t cooperate — and also to conduct significant pressure against Iran.”
When asked whether Ukrainians and Europeans fear that Trump’s policies might prioritize Russia in a deal and pressure Kyiv, the EU, and NATO to accept it — much like the withdrawal from Afghanistan — Roule responded that the US approach would ultimately depend on whether the issue is deemed existential to its interests.
“The Trump administration’s position is going to be: If this is an existential issue for Europe, then it must act accordingly. And there are some countries in Europe which still will not meet their NATO obligations,” he said.
“The Trump administration’s position is going to be, not unreasonably, if this is existential for us and we must participate accordingly, why isn’t it existential for you?”
Turning to Ukraine, Roule said this has been “a costly, bloody war” within the country. “They’ve lost many of their people to Russian aggression. This is a criminal invasion of another country,” he said.
“That said, if you’re interested in stopping the violence, at some point all wars come to a diplomatic solution. They may not be attractive, but that solution is needed.”
Israel names Netanyahu ally as US ambassador
- A former adviser to Netanyahu, Leiter, 65, is originally from the United States and currently lives in a settlement in the occupied West Bank
JERUSALEM: The Israeli government said Sunday it had approved the nomination of Yechiel Leiter, an ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as the country’s ambassador to the United States.
The announcement comes after US President-elect Donald Trump named hard-line conservative Mike Huckabee as his choice for US ambassador to Israel under his incoming administration.
“The government has unanimously approved the appointment of Dr. Yechiel Leiter as ambassador to the United States,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
A former adviser to Netanyahu, Leiter, 65, is originally from the United States and currently lives in a settlement in the occupied West Bank.
Close to the US Republican Party, Leiter used to be one of the leaders of the Yesha Council, an umbrella group representing Israeli settlers in the West Bank in the 1990s.
He is also a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party and currently works as a strategic adviser to Israeli think tanks.
His son, Moshe Leiter, was killed in combat in November 2023 in the Gaza Strip, where war erupted between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas after its attack on southern Israel in October last year.
Yechiel Leiter will take on the ambassador role after Trump’s inauguration next year, succeeding Mike Herzog, President Isaac Herzog’s brother, who was appointed in 2021.
Leiter is a fierce critic of US President Joe Biden, slamming “American pressure” during the war in Gaza in an interview with private Israeli channel Tov in January.
Israel welcomed Huckabee’s nomination this month, as he is a stalwart supporter of the country’s government.
In 2017, he was present in Maale Adumim for the expansion of one of Israel’s largest settlements in the West Bank.
Israel’s PM condemns settler violence on soldiers in West Bank
- The International Criminal Court stunned Israel on Thursday by issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the 13-month-old Gaza conflict
JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned on Sunday Jewish settlers who attacked senior Israeli military officers including Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, the head of the army’s Central Command in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli army said that a group of settlers trailed Bluth and other officers in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, blocked their exit and hurled abuse at them. It added that five rioters had been arrested.
“All violence directed against Israeli military officers and soldiers must be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
Some of the crowd yelled “traitor” at Bluth, who had visited Hebron to attend an annual religious event in the city.
BACKGROUND
On Saturday, dozens of settlers hurled stones at Israeli troops near the West Bank settlement of Itamar, police said.
On Saturday, dozens of settlers, some of them masked, hurled stones at Israeli troops and border police near the West Bank settlement of Itamar, police said.
There has been a general surge in violence across the West Bank since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel.
Palestinians have been repeatedly targeted by settlers, who want Israel to annex the West Bank. The Israeli military is meant to protect the local Palestinians, but Bluth acknowledged in August that the army had failed to safeguard civilians when settlers went on the rampage in one town. Palestinians say they are often left to the mercy of the settlers, with soldiers doing little or nothing to rein them in.
Some settler youth groups reject the jurisdiction of the Israeli military in areas that they see as under their control and have attacked Israeli forces.
Settler leaders have said violence has no place in their movement and have called for offenders to be prosecuted.
Most countries deem Jewish settlements built on land Israel captured in a 1967 war to be illegal. Israel disputes this and cites historical and biblical ties to the land. Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent state.
Separately, analysts and officials have said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing legal perils at home and abroad that point to a turbulent future for the Israeli leader and could influence the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
The International Criminal Court stunned Israel on Thursday by issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the 13-month-old Gaza conflict.
The bombshell came less than two weeks before Netanyahu is due to testify in a corruption trial that has dogged him for years and could end his political career if he is found guilty. He has denied any wrongdoing.
While the domestic bribery trial has polarized public opinion, the prime minister has received widespread support from
across the political spectrum following the ICC move, giving him a boost in troubled times.
Saudi companies exhibiting at ArabPlast in Dubai to showcase petrochemical innovations
- ArabPlast will feature a diverse range of products, technologies and solutions that shape the future of plastics and petrochemicals in the region
LONDON: Saudi petrochemical firms will showcase their products and innovative solutions at the 17th ArabPlast, hosted by the Dubai World Trade Center, the Emirates News Agency — WAM —reported.
ArabPlast, an international trade show that takes place from Jan. 7-9, is an important event in the calendar of companies working in the plastics, recycling, petrochemicals, packaging and rubber industries.
In 2025, ArabPlast will host 12 national pavilions and 750 exhibitors from a total of 35 countries, including companies from Saudi Arabia, Austria, China, Egypt, Germany, Italy, India, Switzerland, Jordan, UAE and the rest of the GCC countries.
They will showcase “a diverse range of products, technologies and solutions that shape the future of plastics, petrochemicals and rubber sectors in the region,” WAM reported.
Nidal Mohammed Kadar, director of ArabPlast, said that the event would also feature the “latest developments in robotics and artificial intelligence technologies in the field of recycling,” which will contribute to sustainability.
Sadiq Al-Lawati, executive director of Polymers Marketing at OQ Oman, said that ArabPlast will focus on “sustainable, environmentally friendly solutions” as the global demand for plastic increases in industrial sectors, such as construction, food and beverage, aviation, automotive, health care and sports.
Alongside the exhibitions, hundreds of professionals and decision-makers will discuss the latest solutions and challenges that the plastic and petrochemical industries are facing in the Arab region.
Two Israeli strikes hit south Beirut: Lebanon state media
- “Israeli warplanes launched two violent strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in the Kafaat area,” official National News Agency said
- The raids “caused massive destruction over a large geographical area” of the Kafaat district, NNA said
BEIRUT: Lebanese state media reported two Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, about an hour after the Israeli military posted evacuation calls online for parts of the Hezbollah bastion.
“Israeli warplanes launched two violent strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in the Kafaat area,” the official National News Agency said.
The southern Beirut area has been repeatedly struck since September 23 when Israel intensified its air campaign also targeting Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon’s east and south. It later sent in ground troops to southern Lebanon.
AFPTV footage showed grey smoke billowing over south Beirut.
The raids “caused massive destruction over a large geographical area” of the Kafaat district, NNA said.
Earlier Sunday, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee warned on social media platform X that the military would strike “Hezbollah facilities and interests” in the Hadath and Burj Al-Barajneh districts, also sharing maps of the areas to be evacuated.
Full-on war erupted following nearly a year of limited exchanges of fire initiated by Iran-backed Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas, after the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack sparked the Gaza war.
