CAIRO: At least 235 people were killed and 109 injured in a terrorist attack on a mosque in North Sinai, which Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi vowed to respond to with “brute force.”
The Egyptian Air Force targeted the vehicles of the attackers during their escape and killed at least 15 armed men suspected of carrying out the assault.
In the deadliest terrorist attack in Egypt’s modern history, terrorists targeted worshippers during their Friday prayers at Al-Rawdah mosque in Bir Al-Abed, about 40 kilometers from Al-Arish city in North Sinai. Militants set off a bomb and opened fire on worshippers inside the mosque and those trying to escape. The terrorists then escaped using 4WD cars.
El-Sisi said that the attack would only strengthen the resolve of the Egyptian people.
He said in a televised speech after a meeting of the special security committee, which included the defense minister and the head of the general security service, that “the armed forces and the police will avenge our martyrs and restore security and stability with utmost force in the very near future.” He added: “We will respond to this act by brute force to face this extremist group.”
Reuters said that the worshippers were supporters of the government, quoting what it called a security source and an eyewitness. Hussam Al-Rifai, Egyptian MP from Al-Arish area, said that the majority of the victims of the attack were from the Sawarka tribe and the attack was revenge for the tribe’s support of the Egyptian armed forces and the police against terrorism. The mosque follows a Sufi order called “Jaririyeh.”
Al-Sawark tribe issued a statement last May announcing that it was joining Al-Tarabin tribe in fighting Daesh in Sinai.
The statement said that the tribe “believes that ‘Daesh in Sinai’ is a cancerous extension of the parent Daesh in the region, and that it is a link in the chain of the wider project that aims to destroy the homelands and divide the region into smaller states in which people scramble and brothers fight each other.”
“We have agreed to enter a direct military confrontation with the terrorist gangs in Sinai (…) under the umbrella of the state and in coordination with the valiant armed forces, and in partnership with our brothers from other tribes.”
El-Sisi said: “What is happening in Sinai is a response against true efforts made against terrorism, which we are fighting alone. Egypt is facing terrorism on behalf of the region and the whole world.”
He said that the attack on Al-Rawdah mosque comes in the context of “an attempt to destroy our resolve and stop our efforts to stop the terrible criminal plan which aims to destroy what is left of the region.”
El-Sisi said that he wanted Egyptians “to be sure and confident that the battle we are fighting is the most honorable battle,” and expressed his confidence that God would grant victory to Egypt in its fight against “the evil people.”
Mai Mujib, professor of political science at Cairo University, said: “Yesterday’s (terrorist) operation cannot be separated from the successes achieved by the Egyptian security forces against infiltration attempts into Egypt in the recent past.”
Mujib pointed to the success of the Egyptian Air Force in killing terrorists who had tried to enter Egypt from Libya in the past few weeks, and the dismantling of many Muslim Brotherhood terrorist cells, the last of which happened in Beheira governorate in the northern part of Egypt.
Mohammed Juma, an expert at the Arab and Regional studies Unit at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo, believes that it is more likely the attack was carried out by Daesh group, because there are no terrorist organizations in Egypt which hold views allowing the targeting of such a place with an intensive civilian presence except Daesh.
Bir Al-Abed area has witnessed many terrorist attacks in the past few months, including a similar attack on Sept. 11 against a security convoy, which killed 18 Egyptian security personnel. A suicide bomber driving a car targeted a security convoy, which was followed by an attack by terrorists using grenades and guns, and riding motorcycles and 4WD cars coming from the the desert alongside the “international highway” in the area. At that time, the Sinai Province militant group took responsibility for the attack, condemning what it called the agreements between the Egyptian intelligence service and the leadership of Hamas.
The village of Sbeikah near Bir Al-Abed witnessed another attack, which killed four members of the police force on Aug. 9.
Juma refused to link yesterday’s attack to new developments regarding the Egyptian reconciliation arrangements between the two Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas.
“The reconciliation efforts are not fast or easy enough to represent an immediate danger at the moment for the terror groups close to Daesh in Gaza,” he said. “Moreover, operations targeting civilians and civilian institutions by Daesh elements in northern Sinai had been increasing before the announcement about Egypt’s efforts on the Palestinian reconciliation path. And Christians in Al-Arish suffered from attacks aimed at pushing them out of their homes in January and February 2017.”
Juma believes that the attack may have many aims, but comes in the context of moving the operations of the Sinai Province Group toward the areas to the west of the “Rafah-Arish-Sheikh Zuweid” triangle, “which witnessed a big increase in the size of the security presence and operations against the terrorist group, making it more difficult for the terrorists to move easily and carry out operations effectively.”
Mujib said: “The security successes in Rafah area forced the terrorist group to take an important part of its operations to the west,” noting that this move reveals that the group has other logistical and supply paths on top of the border with Gaza Strip, which was targeted heavily in recent times.
Mujib said: “The attack against a mosque reveals a shift in the nature of the places which could be targeted by the organization,” noting that “this means that the organization adopts more hard-line religious views which allows the targeting of civilians and even Islamic places of worship.”
Juma said that “targeting civilians and places of worship in such a huge way reflects the effects of Daesh in Syria and Iraq on the Sinai terror group, which makes it in a state of hostility with everyone. A possible cause is the influx of Daesh elements coming from Syria and Iraq to Sinai.”
Juma added: “Yesterday’s attack was an attempt to find an easy target to cause big losses, and the terrorist group managed to use the attack as a propaganda for itself among extremist elements, especially with the rise of signs for a new confrontation between Sinai Province group and some Al-Qaeda groups which are retrying to strengthen their presence in Egypt.”
Jund Al-Islam group, which is part of Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for an operation on Oct. 11 against the Sinai Province group. Jund Al-Islam posted an audio recording on the Internet on Nov. 11 announcing that it “Targeted (Omar) Al-Baghdadi’s khawarij (outsiders) on Oct. 11 because of their continuous aggressions against Muslims in Sinai, their blockade of Gaza Strip, and their betrayal of their brothers in the group.”
Jund Al-Islam asked members of Daesh to repent and defect from Al-Baghdadi’s organization, which “divided Muslims,” and brutalized their Muslim brothers without any religious proof.
Jund Al-Islam threatened Daesh that it would eradicate their presence in Sinai if they “did not stop their actions and wrongdoings.”
Egypt hunts for killers after mosque carnage
Egypt hunts for killers after mosque carnage

More Sudanese refugees fleeing as far as Europe, UN refugee agency says

- Olga Sarrado, UN refugee agency spokesperson, told a press briefing in Geneva that some 484 Sudanese had arrived in Europe in January and February, up 38 percent from the same period last year
Some 12 million people have been displaced by the two-year conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that has fueled what UN officials call the world’s most devastating aid crisis.
While some have recently returned home to Khartoum, millions of others in neighboring countries like Egypt and Chad face tough choices as services for refugees are being cut, including by the United States as part of an aid review.
Olga Sarrado, UN refugee agency spokesperson, told a press briefing in Geneva that some 484 Sudanese had arrived in Europe in January and February, up 38 percent from the same period last year.
Around 937 others were rescued or intercepted at sea and returned to Libya — more than double last year’s figures for the same period, she added.
“As humanitarian aid crumbles and if the war does not abate, many more will have little choice than to join them,” she said.
Migrant deaths hit a record last year, the UN migration agency said, with many perishing on the Mediterranean crossing which is one of the world’s most dangerous.
UN: 36 Israeli strikes in Gaza killed ‘only women and children’

- UN rights office spokesperson warns the military strikes across Gaza were ‘leaving nowhere safe’
- Israel has said its troops are seizing ‘large areas’ in Gaza and incorporating them into buffer zones cleared of their inhabitants
GENEVA: The United Nations on Friday said it analysis of 36 Israeli strikes in Gaza showed only women and children were killed and decried the human cost of the war.
The UN rights office also warned that expanding Israeli evacuation orders were resulting in the “forcible transfer” of people into ever-shrinking spaces in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani warned the military strikes across Gaza were “leaving nowhere safe.”
“Between 18 March and 9 April 2025, there were some 224 incidents of Israeli strikes on residential buildings and tents for internally displaced people,” she told reporters in Geneva.
“In some 36 strikes about which the UN Human Rights Office corroborated information, the fatalities recorded so far were only women and children,” she said.
“Overall, a large percentage of fatalities are children and women, according to information recorded by our Office,” she added.
Shamdasani cited an April 6 strike on a residential building of the Abu Issa family in Deir al Balah, which reportedly killed one girl, four women, and one four-year-old boy.
She highlighted that even the areas where Palestinians were being instructed to go in the expanding number of Israeli “evacuation orders” were also being subjected to attacks.
“Despite Israeli military orders instructing civilians to relocate to the Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis, strikes continued on tents in that area housing displaced people, with at least 23 such incidents recorded by the Office since 18 March,” she said.
Shamdasani referred to a March 31 order by the Israeli military covering all of Rafah, the southernmost governorate in Gaza, followed by a large-scale ground operation.
Israel has said its troops are seizing “large areas” in Gaza and incorporating them into buffer zones cleared of their inhabitants.
“Large areas are being seized and added to Israel’s security zones, leaving Gaza smaller and more isolated,” Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday.
“Let us be clear, these so-called evacuation orders are actually displacement orders, leading to displacement of the population of Gaza into ever shrinking spaces,” Shamdasani said.
“The permanently displacing the civilian population within occupied territories amounts to forcible transfer, which is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and it is a crime against humanity.”
WHO: Medicine critically low due to Gaza aid block

- Lack of medicine making it hard to keep hospitals even partially operational
GENEVA: Medicine stocks are critically low due to the aid block in Gaza, making it hard to keep hospitals even partially operational, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
“We are critically low in our three warehouses, on antibiotics, IV fluids and blood bags,” WHO official Rik Peeperkorn told reporters in Geneva via video link from Jerusalem.
Yemen ‘not a battleground for settling scores,’ says top government official

- Brig. Gen. Tariq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh calls for stronger support for Yemeni forces on the ground to restore balance
DUBAI: Yemen is “not a battleground for settling scores, nor part of any external compromises,” a top government official told Asharq Al-Awsat in an exclusive interview.
Brig. Gen. Tariq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, a member of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council with vice-presidential rank, further emphasized that diminishing the country to a pawn between powerful nations engaged in political play undermines its sovereignty and regional security.
“The world would be making a mistake by accepting Yemen as a bargaining chip in Iranian negotiations,” said Saleh, who also heads the Political Bureau of the National Resistance. He also emphasized Yemen’s strategic importance to global shipping routes.
Saleh has remained largely out of public view since the US intensified its air campaign against the Iran-aligned Houthis to stop the threat they pose to civilian shipping and military vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
He further warned that keeping Yemen “a base for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard” threatens not only Yemenis but also regional and international interests.
But achieving stability in the conflict-ridden country hinges on supporting a national state rooted in constitutional rule and genuine popular consensus, not on short-term geopolitical deals, Saleh added.
He called for stronger support for Yemeni forces on the ground to restore balance, not as a tool for escalation, but because it is a national imperative to protect civilians and preserve hard-won gains.
He said the Yemeni government was in ongoing coordination with international partners and the Saudi-led coalition backing legitimacy in Yemen to secure further assistance for the national struggle.
Cooperation with regional and international partners to bolster the country’s coast guard, particularly in the Red Sea, a strategic artery for global trade, also continues, the Yemeni official said.
Maritime security cannot be separated from national sovereignty, and defending sea lanes was integral to restoring state authority on land and at sea, Saleh said.
On achieving peace in Yemen, Saleh said: “There is no meaning to any settlement that does not subject the Houthis to the Yemeni constitution and the rule of law.” He discounted any notion that the militia group could be accommodated outside a constitutional framework.
“Peace cannot be granted to a group that rejects the state,” he said. “It is forged when the state regains the capacity to enforce the law and protect its citizens.”
For Saleh, forging a peace agreement with the Houthis — whom he describes as a bloodthirsty group with no commitment to national frameworks and an ideology rooted in an enemy state — was virtually nonexistent.
He accused the Houthis of placing their leadership and institutions tied to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps above Yemen’s state institutions.
“Governance is about managing people’s affairs based on shared frameworks,” Saleh said. “The Houthis do not abide by any of that.”
Saleh has put direct blame on Iran for perpetuating the conflict through its armed proxies, keeping Yemen hostage to violence and rebellion, although Tehran has continually denied its involvement.
Saleh also acknowledged the challenges facing the Presidential Leadership Council, and described the internal disagreements as “natural,” given the complexity of the crisis in Yemen.
“In the end,” he said, “what unites us is greater than any differences.
“Disagreements are natural in any leadership body, particularly in exceptional conditions like Yemen’s,” he said. “But more important is our ability to navigate this diversity and divergence while remaining committed to the national interest.”
From Dubai to Osaka to Riyadh: Expos mark decade of global dialogue, says UAE official

- UAE, Japan, and Saudi Arabia expos each bring distinct strengths and perspectives, says UAE official
- Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai will run from April 13 to Oct. 13
DUBAI: The move of expos from Dubai to Osaka and soon to Riyadh presents a “unique opportunity to shape a decade of global engagement” in the Middle East and Asia, according to Shihab Al-Faheem, the UAE pavilion commissioner general.
The sequence of the three locations “offers continuity for themes such as innovation, sustainability, and cultural dialogue,” Al-Faheem said in an interview with Arab News Japan.
“It also strengthens connections between our countries. The UAE, Japan, and Saudi Arabia each bring distinct strengths and perspectives,” he added. “By working together through these global platforms, we can create long-term partnerships that deliver meaningful outcomes for people and the planet.”
Al-Faheem, who is also the UAE’s ambassador to Japan, said the Osaka-Kansai Expo this year carries special meaning for the Gulf country.
The UAE’s first expo journey began in Osaka more than five decades ago, and the commissioner-general explained that returning to Japan was “an opportunity to continue engaging with the world and to contribute to shaping a future grounded in cooperation and collective progress.”
As the baton was passed from Dubai Expo 2020 to Osaka, Al-Faheem said the most important insight the UAE valued was that of creating experiences that are immersive, inclusive and people focused.
“We also learned that strong logistical planning and a flexible, responsive approach are essential to hosting a successful expo,” he told Arab News Japan. “We believe these lessons will resonate with Japan as it welcomes the world in 2025.”
When it comes to the UAE’s participation in Osaka this year, the country’s pavilion will continue its “immersive and multi-sensory journey” giving visitors a chance to “engage on an emotional and intellectual level.”
The UAE Pavilion’s theme is “Earth to Ether,” which expresses the Gulf country’s journey from a heritage rooted in the land to a future defined by innovation.
With sustainability and technology in mind, Al-Faheem said the pavilion uses eco-conscious materials such as Datecrete and palm-based architectural elements to reflect environmental values.
“The content of the pavilion also showcases our leadership in clean energy, smart healthcare, and space technologies,” the ambassador said.
The architectural design draws inspiration from traditional Emirati structures and uses materials from the date palm. Inside the pavilion, visitors will be able to experience stories that reflect the UAE’s values and vision for the future.
Given that the UAE and Japan have both hosted World Expos, Al-Faheem said that this has allowed the two countries to strengthen “an already deep and multifaceted relationship. These global events provide a powerful platform to showcase shared values and to develop partnerships across sectors such as energy, education, culture, and technology.”
The UAE Pavilion at Expo 2025 is expected to honor the relationship between the two countries and create new opportunities for joint initiatives.
Al-Faheem said he hopes that through the upcoming expo, the UAE will be able to deepen people-to-people ties with Japan and to create cultural and educational exchanges.
Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai will run from April 13 to Oct. 13, with an official opening ceremony on April 12.