DUBAI: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi accused Israel on Wednesday of holding up aid deliveries for Gaza at the Rafah border crossing.
“This is a form of pressure on the Gaza Strip and its people over the conflict and the release of hostages. They are using this as a pressure tool on the people of the Strip,” El-Sisi told a gathering of military officers and state officials.
“We used to send Gaza 600 trucks a day. But for the past two to three days, we are not delivering more than 200 to 220 trucks (of aid) per day. How are these people (in Gaza) living?” he said.
“Egypt’s Rafah crossing is open 24/7 every day of the month. But the procedures taking place on the Israeli side for us to send in the aid without it being blocked by anyone, they are the reason (for holdups).”
Israel’s air and ground war in Gaza following a surprise cross-border assault by Hamas militants has caused a severe humanitarian crisis, with most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people left homeless and acutely short of food, water, medicine and fuel.
Israel has previously denied holding up aid to Gaza via the Rafah crossing.
Egypt’s El-Sisi accuses Israel of impeding aid deliveries to Gaza
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Egypt’s El-Sisi accuses Israel of impeding aid deliveries to Gaza
- Abdel Fattah El-Sisi: ‘We used to send Gaza 600 trucks a day. But for the past two to three days, we are not delivering more than 200 to 220 trucks (of aid) per day’
- El-Sisi: ‘The procedures taking place on the Israeli side for us to send in the aid without it being blocked by anyone, they are the reason (for holdups)’
Chief of Bahraini National Guard participates in Pakistan Day celebrations
- Sheikh Mohammed conveyed greetings from the Bahraini king and crown prince to Pakistani officials
- Saudi leadership sent separate cables of congratulations to President Zardari on his country’s National Day
LONDON: Sheikh Mohammed bin Isa Al-Khalifa, the commander of Bahrain’s National Guard, participated in the Pakistan Day celebrations held on Sunday in Islamabad.
The public holiday celebrated on March 23 each year commemorates the day in 1956 when Pakistan adopted its first constitution and became the world’s first Islamic republic.
Sheikh Mohammed conveyed greetings from King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa to the Pakistani leadership, the Bahrain News Agency reported.
Senior Pakistani political and military officials attended the Pakistan Day celebrations at the Presidential Palace in Islamabad on Sunday, including President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and various foreign delegations.
Sheikh Mohammed expressed his wishes for Pakistan’s continued progress, prosperity, and stability, according to BNA.
He has been on an official visit to Pakistan since last week, where he met senior military and political officials, including Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber, the country’s air force chief, and Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza, the chairperson of Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.
On Sunday, the Saudi leadership sent separate cables of congratulations to President Zardari on his country’s National Day, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wished Zardari continued good health and happiness and the people of Pakistan steady progress and prosperity.
Hamas says Israeli strike kills political bureau official Salah Al-Bardawil
- Bardawil, 65, was killed along with his wife in a camp in Al-Mawasi, near Khan Yunis
- He is the third member of the political bureau to be killed since Israel resumed air strikes on Tuesday
GAZA CITY: Palestinian group Hamas confirmed on Sunday that Salah Al-Bardawil, a senior member of its political bureau, was killed in an Israeli air strike in southern Gaza the previous day.
Bardawil, 65, was killed along with his wife in a camp in Al-Mawasi, near Khan Yunis, according to the Palestinian Islamist movement.
He is the third member of the political bureau to be killed since Israel resumed air strikes on Tuesday, after Yasser Harb and Essam Al-Dalis, the head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military confirmed Sunday that it had targeted Bardawil, saying that “as part of his role, (he) directed the strategic and military planning” of Hamas in Gaza.
His “elimination further degrades Hamas’ military and government capabilities,” it added.
Bardawil, born in the Khan Yunis refugee camp, joined Hamas when it was founded in 1987, serving as a spokesman before rising through the ranks and being elected to the political bureau in 2021.
He spoke against security cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, and supported armed struggle against Israel.
Detained by Israel in 1993 and interrogated for 70 days, according to Hamas, Bardawil was also arrested several times by the security forces of the Palestinian Authority.
In the flare-up since last week, Hamas has also announced the deaths of interior ministry head Mahmud Abu Watfa, and Bahjat Abu Sultan, the director general of the Internal Security Services.
Hamas sources said on Sunday that Mohammed Hassan Al-Amur, the bodyguard of slain leader Yahya Sinwar, was killed in an overnight strike on his home in Khan Yunis.
Hamas has been considerably weakened by the deaths of many of its leaders, both inside and outside the Gaza Strip, since the start of the war triggered by its deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The head of Hamas’s political wing, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in Tehran on July 31, 2024, in an explosion claimed by Israel. His successor Sinwar died on October 16 in Gaza.
First Jordanian flight lands in Syria’s Aleppo International Airport after relaunch
- Maintenance and restoration work allows air traffic to and from Aleppo to resume
- Jordanian delegation on flight aims to enhance cooperation between Syria and Jordan
LONDON: The first Jordanian flight landed at Aleppo International Airport in northern Syria on Sunday after the airport’s relaunch last week.
The Jordanian flight carried an official delegation whose aim is to enhance cooperation between Syria and Jordan, reaffirming the revival of civilian activity at the airport, the SANA agency reported.
Last week, Aleppo airport reopened for flights after nearly three months of closure caused by the offensive by rebel groups against Bashar Assad’s regime in early December. Aleppo is the country’s second-largest city after the capital and an important industrial and trade center.
Maintenance and restoration work by Syrian authorities allowed air traffic to and from Aleppo to resume. Authorities announced that Aleppo will begin receiving international flights, facilitating the return of nearly 10 million Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey and Europe. It will also enable local and foreign investors to visit the city, SANA added.
In January, international flights to and from Damascus resumed for the first time since the fall of Assad with a direct flight from Doha — the first in 13 years.
UAE, Egyptian presidents discuss strengthening fraternal ties
- El-Sisi hosts Cairo iftar banquet in honor of Sheikh Mohamed
LONDON: Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the president of the UAE, discussed regional development and brotherly ties with the president of Egypt, Abdul Fattah El-Sisi, in Cairo.
The two leaders met on Saturday to discuss their countries’ relations and ways to enhance cooperation in the development, economic, and investment sectors to serve mutual interests, the Emirates News Agency reported.
They confirmed their commitment to enhancing the strong relationship between Abu Dhabi and Cairo while promoting collaboration in all areas.
El-Sisi hosted an iftar banquet in honor of Sheikh Mohamed and the accompanying UAE delegation, composed of senior Emirati officials, the agency added.
Sheikh Mohamed left Egypt on Saturday evening from Cairo International Airport, where the Egyptian president and several senior officials bid him farewell.
Palestinians denounce Israeli recognition of new West Bank settlements
JERUSALEM: The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned on Sunday an Israeli decision to recognize more than a dozen new settlements in the occupied West Bank, upgrading existing neighborhoods to independent settlement status.
The decision by Israel’s security cabinet was a show of “disregard for international legitimacy and its resolutions,” said a statement from the Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry.
The West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, is home to about three million Palestinians as well as nearly 500,000 Israelis living in settlements that are illegal under international law.
Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right leader and settler who was behind the cabinet’s decision, hailed it as an “important step” for Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Smotrich is a leading voice calling for Israel to formally annex the West Bank — as it did in 1967 after capturing east Jerusalem in a move not recognized by most of the international community.
“The recognition of each (neighborhood) as a separate community... is an important step that would help their development,” Smotrich said in a statement on Telegram, calling it part of a “revolution.”
“Instead of hiding and apologizing, we raise the flag, we build and we settle,” he said.
“This is another important step toward de facto sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” added Smotrich, using the Biblical name for the West Bank.
In its statement, the Palestinian foreign ministry also mentioned an ongoing major Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank, saying it was accompanied by “an unprecedented escalation in the confiscation of Palestinian lands.”
The 13 settlement neighborhoods approved for development by the Israeli cabinet are located across the West Bank. Some of them are effectively part of the bigger settlements they belong to while others are practically separate.
Their recognition as separate communities under Israeli law is not yet final.
Hailing the “normalization” of settlement expansion, the Yesha Council, an umbrella organization for the municipal councils of West Bank settlements, thanked Smotrich for pushing for the cabinet decision.
According to EU figures, 2023 saw a 30-year record in settlement building permits issued by Israel.
