LONDON: Israel’s war in Gaza could have a lasting effect on its ties with Egypt, Middle East Institute expert Mirette Mabrouk has cautioned. The warning came during a panel discussion to mark the 45th anniversary of the peace deal signed between the two Middle East neighbors.
Mabrouk suggested the perception of Israel among the Egyptian public could be severely damaged by the ongoing conflict, adding that the government in Cairo had “exerted an enormous amount of self-control” but would not be able to ignore public attitudes indefinitely.
“After Gaza, it is impossible, impossible to dissociate the societal effects of what is happening on any economic relationship going forward,” she said.
“At the moment it is impossible to overestimate national feeling in Egypt about what is happening in Gaza, and this is important, because the government cannot afford to discount public opinion.”
Her thoughts were echoed by the former assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Hesham Youssef, who said that while enduring peace between Israel and Egypt was of vital importance to Cairo, so was the future of the Palestinians.
“This treaty has been strategically important … for the whole region,” Youssef said, adding that without it, it was unlikely peace would have followed between Israel and Jordan, or that the Abraham Accords would have ever become viable.
“Egypt paid a very high price for the treaty,” he said. “During the 45 years, Egypt never put its commitments in doubt in relation to the peace treaty.”
Former Knesset member Ksenia Svetlova said Egypt had always been clear with Israel on what it saw as the doorway to a lasting regional peace for Israel, including with Lebanon and the Palestinians.
“Egypt was very keen and very straightforward with Israel from the very beginning — by the beginning, I mean the seminal speech of President Anwar El-Sadat, the hero of peace, in the Israeli Knesset, when he said exactly that: We need to work for peace … peace in the Middle East, not only peace between Israel and Egypt,” she said.
“We have seen huge development … that shows that cooperation indeed can happen, but I can tell you that Egypt, again, it says today to Israelis, just like it said to Israelis back in 1977 when El-Sadat visited the Knesset, there cannot be a huge movement, a real movement toward normalization … until there (is) a way out, a solution, for the conflict with the Palestinians.”
Youssef said that, while not jeopardizing the peace with Egypt, the ongoing war in Gaza was a source of great concern in Cairo.
“After Oct. 7, Egypt recognized the gravity of what happened, and its impact on the Israel people … and the Egyptian reaction was quite measured. But as time passed by, and the ferocity of the attacks increased, and the number of civilian casualties multiplied, Egyptians’ concerns also grew.”
He added that the US needed to take a greater role in pushing for peace and a two-state solution, which Egypt, he said, was working on closely with Washington.
“This is Egypt’s destiny, and Egypt’s efforts will continue, relentlessly, until peace is achieved,” he said.
Mabrouk added that since the outbreak of the war, “while economic relations between the two countries are steady … at the moment, everything appears to be on hold” between Israel and Egypt.
She added that in part this was due to the response of external actors to the conflict, citing a drop of 50 percent in Red Sea traffic through the Suez Canal and the accompanying collapse of business in the Israeli port town of Eilat as examples of how the conflict was damaging economic relations between the two nations.
Former Ambassador of Israel to Germany Jeremy Issacharoff praised the enduring peace between Israel and Egypt, but warned while Cairo had a “very considerable role” to play in the peace process, until the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 were released, the situation would remain hard to resolve.
“I think it’s going to really damage a lot of the possibilities of actually creating a post-war reality that leads to a radical change in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Issacharoff said of the hostages still being held in Gaza.
“Egypt can play a very considerable role regarding the issue of the hostages. It is very important to understand just how crucial this issue is in the public eye of Israelis today.”
Issacharoff added that Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, could make a huge difference to the future of Gaza, adding: “Bringing Saudi Arabia into the situation could be a vital factor, along with the UAE, in stabilizing the situation in Gaza in terms of reconstructing, and using all the different elements that can be used in order to begin to establish stability and begin to give some sort of stable infrastructure to that area.”
He added that Egypt would play a crucial role, too, in working with the Palestinian Authority to restore order in Gaza and to resurrect the two-state solution.
“Egypt has a vital role with the PA,” he said. “I think the PA — I don’t see any alternative of having it come and re-establish its own rule in Gaza.”
He added: “We have, along with the revitalized PA, to find a way to address and avert the almost imminent or already existent humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but also in stabilizing the West Bank — otherwise, again, we are not going forward.”
Egypt expert warns Gaza war’s impact on Egyptian-Israeli ties ‘impossible to ignore’
https://arab.news/zygxr
Egypt expert warns Gaza war’s impact on Egyptian-Israeli ties ‘impossible to ignore’
- Former diplomat Youssef says Egyptian response to conflict ‘measured’ but adds ‘concerns growing’ over situation in Rafah
- Former Israeli ambassador warns hostages need to be released, suggests future Saudi-UAE role in Gaza reconstruction
Israeli strikes batter Lebanon, killing five medics
- Israel has pushed on with its intense military campaign against Hezbollah, tempering hopes that efforts by a US envoy could lead to an imminent ceasefire
- Hezbollah said it had fired rockets at Israeli troops east of Khiyam at least four times on Friday
BEIRUT: Israeli strikes battered southern Lebanon and the outskirts of the capital Beirut on Friday, killing at least five medics, as ground troops clashed with Hezbollah fighters in the south.
Israel has pushed on with its intense military campaign against the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, tempering hopes that efforts by a US envoy could lead to an imminent ceasefire.
US mediator Amos Hochstein said earlier this week in Beirut that a truce was “within our grasp.” He traveled on to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz before returning to Washington, according to the news outlet Axios.
His trip aimed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah along Lebanon’s southern border, which escalated dramatically when Israel ramped up its strikes in late September and sent ground troops into Lebanon on Oct. 1.
Israeli troops have fought Hezbollah in a strip of towns all along the border and this week pushed deeper to the edges of Khiyam, a town some six km (four miles) from the border. Hezbollah said it had fired rockets at Israeli troops east of Khiyam at least four times on Friday.
Lebanese security sources told Reuters that Israeli troops had also advanced in a string of villages to the west as well. They said Israel was most likely trying to isolate Khiyam ahead of a major attack on the town.
Israeli strikes on two other villages in southern Lebanon killed a total of five medics from a rescue force affiliated with Hezbollah, the Lebanese health ministry said.
The more than 3,500 people killed by Israeli strikes over the last year include more than 200 medics, the health ministry said.
Israel says its aim is to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people evacuated from Israel’s north due to rocket attacks by Hezbollah, which began firing across the border in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
Israel also mounted more strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, a once densely populated stronghold of Hezbollah.
It issued evacuation orders on the social media platform X for several buildings in the area on Friday. Reuters footage showed one of the strikes appearing to pierce the center of a multi-story building, sending the whole structure toppling in a massive cloud of smoke.
UN reports heavy clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah in south Lebanon
- “We are aware of heavy shelling in the vicinity of our bases,” UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said
- Asked if the peacekeepers and staff at the headquarters are safe, Tenenti said: “Yes for the moment”
BEIRUT: Israeli troops fought fierce battles with Hezbollah fighters on Friday in different areas in south Lebanon, including a coastal town that is home to the headquarters of UN peacekeepers.
A spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL told The Associated Press that they are monitoring “heavy clashes” in the coastal town of Naqoura and the village of Chamaa to the northeast.
UNIFIL’s headquarters are located in Naqoura in Lebanon’s southern edge close to the border with Israel.
“We are aware of heavy shelling in the vicinity of our bases,” UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said. Asked if the peacekeepers and staff at the headquarters are safe, Tenenti said: “Yes for the moment.”
Several UNIFIL posts have been hit since Israel began its ground invasion of Lebanon on Oct. 1, leaving a number of peacekeepers wounded.
The fighting came a day after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and a Hamas military leader, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over their 13-month war in Gaza and the October 2023 attack on Israel respectively.
The warrant marked the first time that a sitting leader of a major Western ally has been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity by a global court of justice.
Israel’s war has caused heavy destruction across Gaza, decimated parts of the territory and driven almost the entire population of 2.3 million people from their homes, leaving most dependent on aid to survive.
Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel has also launched airstrikes against Lebanon after the Hezbollah militant group began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas’ attack last October. A full-blown war erupted in September after nearly a year of lower-level conflict.
Gaza ministry: hospitals to cut or stop services ‘within 48 hours’ over fuel shortages
- All hospitals in Gaza would have to stop or reduce services “within 48 hours“
GAZA: The Hamas government’s health ministry warned Friday all hospitals in Gaza would have to stop or reduce services “within 48 hours” for lack of fuel, blaming Israel for blocking its entry.
“We raise an urgent warning as all hospitals in Gaza Strip will stop working or reduce their services within 48 hours due to the occupation’s (Israel’s) obstruction of fuel entry,” Marwan Al-Hams, director of Gaza’s field hospitals, said during a press conference.
Israel says to end ‘administrative detention’ for West Bank settlers
- Practice allows for detainees to be held for long periods without being charged or appear in court
- The Palestinian Prisoners Club advocacy group said in August that 3,432 Palestinians were held in administrative detention
JERUSALEM: Israeli authorities will stop holding Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank under administrative detention, or incarceration without trial, the defense ministry announced Friday.
The practice allows for detainees to be held for long periods without being charged or appear in court, and is often used against Palestinians who Israel deems security threats.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said it was “inappropriate” for Israel to employ administrative detention against settlers who “face severe Palestinian terror threats and unjustified international sanctions.”
But, according to settlement watchdog Peace Now, it is one of only few effective tools that Israeli authorities to prevent settler attacks against Palestinians, which have surged in the West Bank over the past year.
Katz said in a statement issued by his office that prosecution or “other preventive measures” would be used to deal with criminal acts in the West Bank.
B’Tselem, an Israeli rights group, said authorities use administrative detention “extensively and routinely” to hold thousands of Palestinians for lengthy periods of time.
The Palestinian Prisoners Club advocacy group said in August that 3,432 Palestinians were held in administrative detention.
Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Friday that eight settlers were held under the same practice in November.
Yonatan Mizrahi, director of settlement watch for Peace Now, said that although administrative detention was mostly used in the West Bank to detain Palestinians, it was one of the few effective tools for temporarily removing the threat of settler violence through detention.
“The cancelation of administrative detention orders for settlers alone is a cynical... move that whitewashes and normalizes escalating Jewish terrorism under the cover of war,” the group said in a statement, referring to a spike in settler attacks throughout the Israel-Hamas conflict over the past 13 months.
Western governments, including Israel’s ally and military backer the United States, have recently imposed sanctions on Israeli settlers and settler organizations over ties to violence against Palestinians.
On Monday, US authorities announced sanctions against Amana, a movement that backs settlement development, and others who have “ties to violent actors in the West Bank.”
“Amana is a key part of the Israeli extremist settlement movement and maintains ties to various persons previously sanctioned by the US government and its partners for perpetrating violence in the West Bank,” the US Treasury said.
Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, the West Bank — which Israel has occupied since 1967 — is home to three million Palestinians as well as about 490,000 Israelis living in settlements that are illegal under international law.
UK would arrest Netanyahu over ICC warrant: Senior politician
- Emily Thornberry: Britain has ‘obligation under Rome Convention’ to arrest Israeli PM if he enters country
- Court: ‘Reasonable grounds to believe’ Netanyahu responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity in Gaza
LONDON: The UK will arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he enters the country, a senior British politician has said.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu on Thursday for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, alongside his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, pertaining to the Gaza war.
Emily Thornberry — Labour chair of the foreign affairs committee, and former shadow foreign secretary and shadow attorney general — told Sky News: “If Netanyahu comes to Britain, our obligation under the Rome Convention would be to arrest him under the warrant from the ICC.
“(It is) not really a question of should — we are required to, because we are members of the ICC.”
UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has refused to be drawn on whether Netanyahu would be arrested if he set foot on British soil, saying it “wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment.”
She told Sky: “We’ve always respected the importance of international law, but in the majority of the cases that they pursue, they don’t become part of the British legal process.
“What I can say is that obviously, the UK government’s position remains that we believe the focus should be on getting a ceasefire in Gaza.”
Netanyahu’s arrest warrant is the first to be issued against the premier of a major Western ally by an international court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
His office denounced the warrant as “anti-Semitic,” adding that Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions.” Israel is not an ICC member and rejects the court’s jurisdiction.
US President Joe Biden called the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant “outrageous,” adding: “Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he plans to invite Netanyahu to visit Budapest, adding that the arrest warrant will “not be observed” by his government.
The Italian and French governments, however, have indicated that Netanyahu will be arrested if he visits either country.
The ICC said on Thursday it has “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility” for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”
The court also issued a warrant for Hamas commander Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Israel says Al-Masri, believed to have been the mastermind behind the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023, was killed in Gaza earlier this year.
The ICC said it issued the warrant for his arrest because of insufficient evidence to prove his death.
