CAIRO/EL-ARISH: Egypt’s army clashed with militants in Sinai on Friday, leaving two children dead as President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi flew home to deal with a wave of militant attacks that killed at least 32 people.
Health officials said a six-month-old baby was hit in the head by a bullet during the clashes and a six-year-old was killed in a rocket blast in the peninsula. Health Ministry officials said two civilians were also among those killed.
Friday’s violence came a day after rebels targeted security forces with rockets and a car bomb in North Sinai province in simultaneous attacks claimed by an affiliate of the IS group.
Most of those killed were soldiers.
Sissi pulled out of a gathering of African leaders in Ethiopia and flew home to oversee the response to the attacks.
“After the terrorist operations in the North Sinai last night, the president decided to cut short his participation in the African Union summit after attending the opening session, and returned to Cairo to monitor the situation,” a statement from Sissi’s office said.
Security officials said the bodies of at least 30 victims had been flown to Cairo. It was the deadliest wave of attacks since October when 30 soldiers were killed and scores wounded in simultaneous assaults on security forces.
The fresh bloodshed came despite new security measures implemented in North Sinai since then.
Militants have regularly targeted security forces in the Sinai Peninsula since President Muhammad Mursi was ousted by then Army Chief Sissi in July 2013.
The militants say the attacks are in retaliation for a government crackdown against Mursi supporters in which hundreds have been killed, thousands jailed and dozens sentenced to death.
US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki condemned Thursday’s attacks and said Washington “remains steadfast in its support of the Egyptian government’s efforts to combat the threat of terrorism.”
Late last year Washington delivered 10 Apache helicopters to Egypt for joint counter-terrorism operations in the Sinai.
The main focus of Thursday’s attacks was El-Arish, the provincial capital, where militants fired rockets at a police headquarters, a military base and a residential complex for security forces, officials said.
This was followed by a suicide car bombing, and militants also attacked a military checkpoint south of El-Arish.
Separately an army officer was killed when a rocket struck a checkpoint in the town of Rafah, on the border with the Gaza Strip.
Officials said at least 62 people were wounded in the attacks.
The Islamic State group’s Egyptian affiliate, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, claimed the assaults in a Twitter account linked to it.
Egypt’s deadliest militant group said it “executed extensive, simultaneous attacks in the cities of El-Arish, Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah.”
In November the organisation pledged its allegiance to IS, which has captured large chunks of territory in Syria and Iraq.
In another incident a police officer was killed by a bomb blast in the canal city of Suez, while a suspected militant mistakenly blew himself up in Port Said while planting a device.
The October attack, also near El-Arish, prompted the authorities to build a buffer zone along the Gaza border to prevent militants infiltrating from the Palestinian enclave.
The authorities have also imposed a state of emergency and night-time curfew in parts of North Sinai since October.
Egypt’s military said Thursday’s attack was the result of “successful operations” against militants by the security forces, and “the failure of Muslim Brotherhood... in spreading chaos on the fourth anniversary of the Jan. 25 revolution” which was marked on Sunday. On Jan. 25, 2011, millions of Egyptians protested against then leader Hosni Mubarak, forcing him to step down.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem) has claimed most of the attacks, including the deadly October assault.
An Egyptian militant group affiliated with the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks in involved locations in three Sinai towns and required a previously unseen level of coordination.
Sinai under militant attack
Sinai under militant attack
Hamas says will free hostages if end to Gaza war guaranteed
- Hamas is engaged in negotiations in Cairo with mediators from Egypt and Qatar
- Senior Hamas official accuses Israel of obstructing progress toward a ceasefire
Hamas is engaged in negotiations in Cairo with mediators from Egypt and Qatar – two nations working alongside the United States to broker a ceasefire in the besieged territory.
“We are ready to release all Israeli captives in exchange for a serious prisoner swap deal, an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the entry of humanitarian aid,” Taher Al-Nunu, a senior Hamas official, said.
However, he accused Israel of obstructing progress toward a ceasefire.
“The issue is not the number of captives,” Nunu said, “but rather that the occupation is reneging on its commitments, blocking the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and continuing the war.”
“Hamas has therefore stressed the need for guarantees to compel the occupation (Israel) to uphold the agreement,” he added.
Israeli news website Ynet reported on Monday that a new proposal had been put to Hamas.
Under the deal, the group would release 10 living hostages in exchange for US guarantees that Israel would enter negotiations for a second phase of the ceasefire.
The first phase of the ceasefire, which began on January 19 and included multiple hostage-prisoner exchanges, lasted two months before disintegrating.
Efforts toward a new truce have stalled, reportedly over disputes regarding the number of hostages to be released by Hamas.
Meanwhile, Nunu said that Hamas would not disarm, a key condition that Israel has set for ending the war.
“The weapons of the resistance are not up for negotiation,” Nunu said.
The war in Gaza broke out after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also took 251 hostages, 58 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday that at least 1,574 Palestinians had been killed since March 18, when the ceasefire collapsed, taking the overall death toll since the war began to 50,944.
Iran FM to head to Moscow, discuss US nuclear talks
On Saturday, Araghchi held talks with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Muscat, the highest-level Iranian-US nuclear negotiations since the collapse of a 2015 accord.
“Dr. Araghchi will travel to Moscow at the end of the week,” said spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, adding that the trip was “pre-planned” and would be “an opportunity to discuss the latest developments related to the Muscat talks.”
Iran and the United States separately described Saturday’s discussions as “constructive.”
The negotiations came weeks after US President Donald Trump sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for nuclear talks while warning of possible military action if Tehran refused.
Russia, a close ally of Iran, and China have held discussions with Iran in recent weeks over its nuclear program.
Moscow welcomed the Iran-US talks as it pushed for a diplomatic solution and warned that military confrontation would be a “global catastrophe.”
Another round of talks between Iran and the United States is scheduled for Saturday, April 19.
Iran has yet to confirm the location but the Dutch foreign minister and diplomatic sources said that the upcoming discussions would be held in the Italian capital.
The official IRNA news agency reported that they would be held in Europe, without elaborating.
Baqaei said the next set of talks would continue to be indirect with Omani mediation, adding that direct talks were “not effective” and “not useful.”
He had previously said that the only focus of the upcoming talks would be “the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions,” and that Iran “will not have any talks with the American side on any other issue.”
Late Sunday, IRNA reported that Tehran’s regional influence and its missile capabilities were among its “red lines” in the talks.
In 2018, during Trump’s first term in office, Washington withdrew from the 2015 agreement and reinstated biting sanctions on Tehran.
Iran continued to adhere to the agreement for a year after Trump’s withdrawal but later began rolling back its compliance.
Iran has consistently denied that it is seeking nuclear weapons.
Baqaei reiterated that Iran would host United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi in the coming days but noted that the details of his trip were still “to be decided on.”
In a post on X, Grossi confirmed that he would be heading to Tehran “later this week.”
“Continued engagement and cooperation with the Agency is essential at a time when diplomatic solutions are urgently needed,” he said.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency last visited Iran in November when he held talks with top officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian.
In its latest quarterly report in February, the IAEA said Iran had an estimated 274.8 kilograms (605 pounds) of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent, which far exceeds the 3.67 percent limit set under the 2015 deal and is much closer to the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.
UAE, Iran discuss US-Iran talks in phone call amid push for regional stability
- The discussions, currently hosted by Oman, were welcomed by Sheikh Abdullah, who commended Iran’s willingness to engage in dialogue
DUBAI: Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, UAE deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, received a phone call on Sunday from Abbas Araqchi, Iran’s minister of foreign affairs, to discuss recent developments in the ongoing talks between the US and Iran.
The discussions, currently hosted by Oman, were welcomed by Sheikh Abdullah, who commended Iran’s willingness to engage in dialogue. He emphasized the importance of such efforts in reinforcing regional security and stability, as well as contributing to broader international peace.
France says Algeria threatening to expel diplomatic staff
- Algeria protested over the weekend against Frances’s detention of an Algerian consular agent suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of an Algerian
PARIS: France said on Monday that Algeria had threatened to expel 12 of its diplomatic staff and that it would take immediate reprisals should that occur in the latest flare-up between them.
Algeria protested over the weekend against Frances’s detention of an Algerian consular agent suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of an Algerian. French media said three people, including the diplomat, were under investigation over the seizure of Algerian government opponent Amir Boukhors.
“The Algerian authorities are demanding that 12 of our agents leave Algerian territory within 48 hours,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in a statement.
“If the decision to expel our agents is maintained, we will have no choice but to respond immediately.”
There was no immediate confirmation from Algeria of an imminent expulsion.
France’s relations with its former colony have long been complicated, but took a turn for the worse last year when French President Emmanuel Macron angered Algeria by backing Morocco’s position over the disputed Western Sahara region.
Only last week, Barrot had said ties were returning to normal after a visit to Algeria.
Palestinian ministry says Israel PM’s criticism of Macron an ‘unjustified attack’
- Emmanuel Macron said that France could take the step during a United Nations conference in New York in June
- His remarks sparked a wave of criticism from right-wing groups in France and from Netanyahu and his son Yair
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: The Palestinian foreign ministry on Monday condemned the Israeli prime minister’s criticism of French President Emmanuel Macron for announcing that Paris intended to recognize a Palestinian state within months.
“The ministry strongly condemns the unjustified attack and offensive remarks made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his son against President Emmanuel Macron,” the Ramallah-based ministry said in a statement.
“The ministry considers these statements a clear acknowledgement of Netanyahu’s ongoing hostility to peace based on the two-state solution, as well as a blatant rejection of international legitimacy and a persistent preference for violence and military solutions over the political path.”
Macron, in an interview with France 5 broadcast on Wednesday, said that France could take the step during a United Nations conference in New York in June, adding he hoped it would trigger a reciprocal recognition of Israel by Arab countries.
“We must move toward recognition, and we will do so in the coming months,” Macron said.
“I will do it because I believe that at some point it will be right and because I also want to participate in a collective dynamic, which must also allow all those who defend Palestine to recognize Israel in turn, which many of them do not do.”
His remarks sparked a wave of criticism from right-wing groups in France and from Netanyahu and his son Yair Netanyahu.
“Screw you!” Yair Netanyahu wrote in English on X late on Saturday, while Netanyahu himself dismissed Macron’s remarks.
“President Macron is gravely mistaken in continuing to promote the idea of a Palestinian state in the heart of our land – a state whose sole aspiration is the destruction of Israel,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
“To this day, not a single figure in Hamas or the Palestinian Authority has condemned the horrors of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” he said, referring to the October 7, 2023, attack led by Hamas on Israel.
He described it as “a silence that reveals their true attitude toward the Jewish state.
“We will not endanger our existence over illusions detached from reality, and we will not accept moral lectures about establishing a Palestinian state that would threaten Israel’s survival — especially not from those who oppose granting independence to Corsica, New Caledonia, French Guiana, and other territories, whose independence would pose no threat to France whatsoever.”
