Cairo:

Israeli and Egyptian ceasefire negotiators are in talks about an electronic surveillance system along the border between Gaza and Egypt that could allow Israel to pull back its troops from the area if a ceasefire is agreed, according to two Egyptian sources and a third source familiar with the matter.

The question of whether Israeli forces stay on the border is one of the issues blocking a potential ceasefire deal because both the Palestinian operatives Hamas and Egypt, a mediator in the talks, are opposed to Israel keeping its forces there.

Israel is worried that if its troops leave the border zone, referred to by Israel as the Philadelphi corridor, Hamas’ armed wing could smuggle in weapons and supplies from Egypt into Gaza via tunnels that would allow it to re-arm and again threaten Israel.

A surveillance system, if the parties to the negotiations agree on the details, could therefore smooth the path to agreeing on a ceasefire – though numerous other stumbling blocks remain.

Discussions around a surveillance system on the border have been reported before, but Reuters is reporting for the first time that Israel is engaging in the discussions as part of the current round of talks, with a view to pulling back forces from the border area.

The source familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the discussions are about “basically sensors that would be built on the Egyptian side of the Philadelphi (corridor).”

“The idea is obviously to detect tunnels, to detect any other ways that they’d be trying to smuggle weapons or people into Gaza. Obviously this would be a significant element in a hostage agreement.”

Asked if this would be significant for a ceasefire deal because it would mean Israeli soldiers would not have to be on the Philadelphi corridor, the source said: “Correct.”

The two Egyptian security sources, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israeli negotiators had spoken about a high-tech surveillance system.

Egypt was not opposed to that, if it was supported and paid for by the United States, according to the two Egyptian sources. They said that Egypt would not agree to anything that would change border arrangements between Israel and Egypt set out in a prior peace treaty.

At a military event on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he could only agree to a deal that preserved Israeli control of the Gaza-Egypt border, but he did not spell out if that meant having troops physically present there.

Talks are underway in Qatar and Egypt on a deal, backed by Washington, that would allow a pause in the fighting in Gaza, now in its 10th month, and the release of hostages held by Hamas.

Israel started its assault on the Gaza Strip last October after Hamas-led operatives rushed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, its forces have killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, according to medical authorities in Gaza.

Israeli officials have said during the war that Hamas used tunnels running under the border into Egypt’s Sinai region to smuggle arms. Egypt says it destroyed tunnel networks leading to Gaza years ago and created a buffer zone and border fortifications that prevent smuggling.

Israel’s advance into southern Gaza’s Rafah area in early May led to the closure of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza and a sharp reduction in the amount of international aid entering the Palestinian territory. Egypt says it wants aid deliveries to Gaza to resume, but that a Palestinian presence should be restored at the Rafah crossing for it to reopen.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A Palestinian woman walks past a house destroyed by an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah, on May 22, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Egypt threatened on May 22 to withdraw as a mediator in Gaza ceasefire negotiations after CNN reported that Egyptian intelligence changed the terms of the recent truce proposal and scuttled a deal.

“Attempts to cast doubt and offend Egypt’s mediation efforts…will only lead to further complications of the situation in Gaza and the entire region and may push Egypt to completely withdraw from its mediation in the current conflict,” Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt’s State Information Service, said in a statement published on social media.

Quoting three people familiar with the discussions, CNN on May 21 said Egyptian intelligence changed terms of a ceasefire proposal that Israel agreed to earlier in May.

When Hamas announced on May 6 that it accepted the peace agreement, it was not the proposal that fellow mediators from the U.S. and Qatar thought was submitted to Hamas for review, according to the report. The changes made by Egyptian intelligence caused anger and recrimination among U.S., Israeli and Qatari officials and caused an impasse in the talks, the report said.

Mr. Rashwan said in the statement that Cairo’s participation as a mediator resulted from “repeated requests and insistence” from Israel and the U.S. Egypt said some “parties” recently directed blame towards Egyptian and Qatari mediators and accused them of being biased, he added.

Tensions have been growing between Egypt and Israel over the Israeli military operation in Rafah at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, just across the border from Egypt.

Since the war between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7, Egypt has expressed concern that Israel’s campaign could push residents of the Palestinian enclave across its border, where it has bolstered security.

A group of researchers has finally found a long-buried 64-kilometre-long river branch of the Nile River. It was hidden under desert and farmland for millennia, according to a study by the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

The study added the river branch used to flow alongside the 31 pyramids in Egypt. It also stated that the river was used to transport giant stone blocks. The latest discovery, in a way, has also explained the reason behind the construction of pyramids in a chain between 4,700 and 3,700 years ago.

Radar satellite imagery was used by researchers to map the river branch. Eman Ghoneim, the University of North Carolina Wilmington earth and ocean sciences professor, told the news agency AFP that the radar gave them the “unique ability to penetrate the sand surface and produce images of hidden features including buried rivers and ancient structures.”

As per the statement released by the university, the team also “found many of the pyramids had causeways that ended at the proposed riverbanks of the Ahramat branch, which they suggest is evidence the river was used for transporting construction materials.”

In the study, Eman Ghoneim said, “Many of us who are interested in ancient Egypt are aware that the Egyptians must have used a waterway to build their enormous monuments, like the pyramids and valley temples, but nobody was certain of the location, the shape, the size, or proximity of this mega waterway to the actual pyramids site. Our research offers the first map of one of the main ancient branches of the Nile at such a large scale and links it with the largest pyramid fields of Egypt.” 

The findings were published in the research journal Communications Earth & Environment. 

Cairo:

Egypt is hosting delegations from Hamas, Israel, Qatar and the US in Cairo with the aim of reaching a “comprehensive truce” in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli delegation, which arrived in Cairo on Tuesday afternoon, included members of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and Shin Bet security agency, an Egyptian source who asked to remain anonymous told Xinhua news agency.

In a video statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had instructed the delegation to “continue to stand firm on the conditions necessary for the release of our hostages, continue to stand firm on the essential requirements to ensure Israel’s security.”

However, he noted that the ceasefire proposal, brokered by Egyptian and Qatari mediators and approved by Hamas on Monday, fell short of Israel’s essential requirements.

Egypt is “making every effort to reach a comprehensive truce,” state-affiliated Al-Qahera News quoted an unnamed high-ranking source as saying. The source added that Egypt was engaged in communication with various parties in order to contain the crisis.

The Israeli army on Tuesday launched a military operation in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, where more than 1 million internally displaced Palestinians have sought refuge since Israel’s offensive began on October 7 last year.

At least 20 people have been killed in Israel’s attacks on Rafah since Tuesday morning, Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.

On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on both Israel and Hamas to end the ongoing conflict.

“We are at a decisive moment for the Palestinian and Israeli people and for the fate of the entire region,” said the UN chief.

“An agreement between the government of Israel and the leadership of Hamas is essential to stop the unbearable suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and of the hostages and their families,” Guterres added.

Cairo, Doha and Washington mediated a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas that ended in late November 2023, which included a swap between Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages and more humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A view of New Rafah in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, where local residents displaced during security operations in recent years will be housed, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the nearby Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Egypt
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Hamas said on May 2 that it was sending a delegation to Egypt for further ceasefire talks, in a new sign of progress in attempts by international mediators to hammer out an agreement between Israel and the militant group to end the war in Gaza.

After months of stop-and-start negotiations, the ceasefire efforts appear to have reached a critical stage, with Egyptian and American mediators reporting signs of compromise in recent days. But chances for the deal remain entangled with the key question of whether Israel will accept an end to the war without reaching its stated goal of destroying Hamas.

The stakes in the ceasefire negotiations were made clear in a new U.N. report that said if the Israel-Hamas war stops today, it will still take until 2040 to rebuild all the homes that have been destroyed by nearly seven months of Israeli bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza. It warned that the impact of the damage to the economy will set back development for generations and will only get worse with every month fighting continues.

The proposal that U.S. and Egyptian mediators have put to Hamas — apparently with Israel’s acceptance — sets out a three-stage process that would bring an immediate six-week cease-fire and partial release of Israeli hostages, but also negotiations over a “permanent calm” that includes some sort of Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, according to an Egyptian official. Hamas is seeking guarantees for a full Israeli withdrawal and complete end to the war.

Hamas officials have sent mixed signals about the proposal in recent days. But on May 2, its supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, said in a statement that he had spoken to Egypt’s intelligence chief and “stressed the positive spirit of the movement in studying the cease-fire proposal.”

The statement said that Hamas negotiators would travel to Cairo “to complete the ongoing discussions with the aim of working forward for an agreement.” Mr. Haniyeh said he had also spoken to the prime minister of Qatar, another key mediator in the process.

The brokers are hopeful that the deal will bring an end to a conflict that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, caused widespread destruction and plunged the territory into a humanitarian crisis. They also hope a deal will avert an Israeli attack on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have sought shelter after fleeing battle zones elsewhere in the territory.

If Israel does agree to end the war in return for a full hostage release, it would be a major turnaround. Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack stunned Israel, its leaders have vowed not to stop their bombardment and ground offensives until the militant group is destroyed. They also say Israel must keep a military presence in Gaza and security control after the war to ensure Hamas doesn’t rebuild.

Publicly at least, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to insist that is the only acceptable endgame.

He has vowed that even if a cease-fire is reached, Israel will eventually attack Rafah, which he says is Hamas’ last stronghold in Gaza. He repeated his determination to do so in talks on May 1 with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was in Israel on a regional tour to push the deal through.

The agreement’s immediate fate hinges on whether Hamas will accept uncertainty over the final phases to bring the initial six-week pause in fighting — and at least postpone what it is feared would be a devastating assault on Rafah.

Egypt has been privately assuring Hamas that the deal will mean a total end to the war. But the Egyptian official said Hamas says the text’s language is too vague and wants it to specify a complete Israeli pullout from all of Gaza. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about the internal deliberations.

On May 1 evening, however, the news looked less positive as Osama Hamdan, a top Hamas official, expressed skepticism, saying the group’s initial position was “negative.” Speaking to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV, he said that talks were still ongoing but would stop if Israel invades Rafah.

Mr. Blinken hiked up pressure on Hamas to accept, saying Israel had made “very important” compromises.

“There’s no time for further haggling. The deal is there,” Mr. Blinken said on May 1 before leaving for the U.S.

An Israeli airstrike, meanwhile, killed at least five people, including a child, in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. The bodies were seen and counted by Associated Press journalists at a hospital.

The war broke out on Oct. 7. when Hamas militants broke into southern Israel and killed over 1,200 people, mostly Israelis, taking around 250 others hostage, some released during a cease-fire on November.

The Israel-Hamas war was sparked by the Oct. 7 raid into southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. Hamas is believed to still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

Since then, Israel’s campaign in Gaza has wreaked vast destruction and brought a humanitarian disaster, with several hundred thousand Palestinians in northern Gaza facing imminent famine, according to the U.N. More than 80% of the population has been driven from their homes.

The “productive basis of the economy has been destroyed” and poverty is rising sharply among Palestinians, according to the report released on May 2 by the United Nations Development Program and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.

It said that in 2024, the entire Palestinian economy — including both Gaza and the West Bank — has so far contracted 25.8%. If the war continues, the loss will reach a “staggering” 29% by July, it said. The West Bank economy has been hit by Israel’s decision to cancel the work permits for tens of thousands of laborers who depended on jobs inside Israel.

“These new figures warn that the suffering in Gaza will not end when the war does,” UNDP administrator Achim Steiner said. He warned of a “serious development crisis that jeopardizes the future of generations to come.”

Israel on Wednesday said it was “moving ahead” with its planned operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah to target Hamas, drawing a stern warning from neighbour Egypt.

Here Are 10 Points On Israel-Hamas War

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi begins his third term this week buoyed by massive fresh financing, but experts say the road out of economic crisis will still be long and arduous.

Mr. Sisi won December’s presidential election with 89.6% of the vote. He is set to begin his third term officially on Wednesday, as Cairo struggles to contain the fallout from two years of punishing economic crisis and dire foreign currency shortages. Local media reported that he will swear the oath before parliament on Tuesday.

This six-year term is set to be the 69-year-old’s last, unless another constitutional amendment again prolongs his tenure.

As 2024 began, the Arab world’s most populous country seemed to be hurtling towards default and economic collapse, analysts said, before it suddenly received more than $50 billion in loans and investments.

Within weeks, the United Arab Emirates announced a $35-billion land development deal for Egypt’s Ras al-Hikma, the International Monetary Fund more than doubled a $3-billion loan, and the World Bank and European Union inked fresh financing agreements.

The massive bailout has saved Egypt “from falling into the abyss”, according to former deputy Prime Minister Ziad Bahaa-Eldin.

But concern has mounted that, without major reform Egypt could still find itself in a new cycle of crisis.

Cairo:

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will be sworn in on Tuesday for a third consecutive term in the new capital being built outside Cairo, government newspaper Al-Ahram confirmed Monday.

In power for over a decade, Sisi “will take the oath of office on the constitution Tuesday in the new parliament premises in the administrative capital”, east of Cairo, Al-Ahram said.

Officially, the 69-year-old Sisi will begin his term on Wednesday, more than three months after he was reelected with 89.6 percent of the vote against three largely-unknown candidates.

The former head of the army and minister of defence, Sisi led the ouster of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi following massive popular protests around the country.

His new term of six years is supposed to be his last, according to the constitution.

MP Mustafa Bakri, who is close to the ruling powers, said the government will likely resign after Sisi’s inauguration to allow for a cabinet reshuffle.

The swearing-in comes against the background of a severe economic crisis, with spiralling inflation and a foreign currency shortage that is stifling foreign trade.

In the first trimester of 2024, however, Egypt benefitted from an influx of billions of dollars, of which $35 billion came from the United Arab Emirates, and an increase of $5 billion of an original loan of $3 billion from the International Monetary Fund.

Sisi’s supporters say the flow of foreign currency will revitalise the economy, but observers are sceptical there will be any improvement without structural reforms to reduce the outsize role of the army and government in the economy.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The EU will provide assistance to cash-strapped Egypt. In this file photo, Egyptians count money at a currency exchange office in downtown Cairo, Egypt.
| Photo Credit: AP

The European Union on March 17 announced a $8 billion aid package for cash-strapped Egypt amid concerns that economic pressure and conflicts and chaos in neighbouring countries could drive more migrants to European shores.

The deal is scheduled to be signed during a visit by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and the leaders of Belgium, Italy, Austria, Cyprus and Greece, according to Egyptian officials.

The package includes both grants and loans over the next three years for the Arab world’s most populous country, according to the European Union Mission in Cairo.

According to a document from the EU mission in Egypt, the two sides have promoted their cooperation to the level of a “strategic and comprehensive partnership,” paving the way for expanding Egypt-EU cooperation in various economic and non-economic areas.

The EU will provide assistance to Egypt’s government to fortify its borders especially with Libya, a major transit point for migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and will support the government in hosting Sudanese who have fled nearly a year of fighting between rival generals in their country.

Also read: Unable to survive in Egypt, refugees from war-torn Sudan return home

Egypt has for decades been a refuge for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa trying to escape war or poverty. For some, Egypt is a destination and a haven, the closest and easiest country for them to reach. For others, it is a point of transit before attempting the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to Europe.

While the Egyptian coast has not been a major launching pad for people smugglers and human traffickers sending overcrowded boats across the Mediterranean to Europe, Egypt faces migratory pressures from the region, with the added looming threat that the Israel-Hamas war will spill across its borders.

The package drew criticism from international rights groups over Egypt’s human rights record. Amnesty International decried the deal and urged European leaders not to be complicit with human rights violations taking place in Egypt.

“EU leaders must ensure that the Egyptian authorities adopt clear benchmarks for human rights,” said Amnesty International’s Head of the European Institutions Office, Eve Geddie in a statement. Geddie pointed to Egypt’s restrictions on media and freedom of expression and a crackdown on civil society.

A screenshot from a UGC video posted on Facebook on October 28, 2023, shows heavy black smoke billowing from charred vehicles following a collision on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road near Wadi al-Natrun that reportedly left at least 35 people dead and more than 50 people dead.
| Photo Credit: AFP

A passenger bus slammed into a parked vehicle on a foggy Saturday (October 28) morning on a highway linking the Egyptian capital, Cairo, and the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, killing at least 32 people, authorities said.

The multi-car pileup, which set some vehicles ablaze, left at least 63 others injured, said the Health Ministry. Ambulances rushed to the scene of the crash on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road to transport the injured to nearby hospitals, it said.

Local media reported that the bus was on its way to Cairo when it hit the parked vehicle. Other cars slammed into the bus with some catching fire.

Footage circulating online showed many burned vehicles on the side of the road with firefighters extinguishing the fire. In one footage many vehicles were seen on fire with thick plumes of smoke billowing from them.

The state-run daily al-Ahram reported that 29 vehicles were part of the crash which took place at the town of Nubariya, about 160kms north of Cairo.

The Egyptian Meteorological Authority warned of heavy fog on highways a day earlier, according to local reports.

Deadly traffic accidents claim thousands of lives every year in Egypt, which has a poor transportation safety record. The crashes and collisions are mostly caused by speeding, bad roads, or poor enforcement of traffic laws.