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Juuuussssttttt spitballin' here, but it certainly seems like we have an answer for Egypt's extraordinary pissiniss about Israel's plans to clear out Rafah.I have to admit, this was the favored line of thinking over the past few weeks as the Biden administration sabotaged every Israeli move, and the Egyptians blustered and threatened. Almost to a one, folks weren't at all fooled. They were asking, "What is Egypt worried the Israelis are going to find?"Well, hiya.Nearly 700 tunnel shafts have been identified in Rafah, with ~50 tunnels crossing into Egypt, revealed @DrGiladNoam at today's sham @CIJ_ICJ hearing.Those tunnels are used to...

Israel claims to have found about 50 cross-border tunnels underneath the boundary between Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, and Egypt — tunnels that could have been used by Hamas terrorists to smuggle in weapons to use against Israel. The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies noted on Friday: Israel went public on May 17 with the discovery of 50 smuggling tunnels leading from the southern Gazan city of Rafah to Egypt. Defending Israel against South African-filed genocide allegations at the International Court of Justice, attorney Gilad Noam devoted part of his remarks to the ongoing military operation in Rafah, a...

The military said on Wednesday that it now had full operational control of the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. This effectively clamps down on any possible weapons flow to Hamas from the outside. Troops located 20 tunnels crossing into Egypt near the Philadelphi Corridor and 82 tunnel shafts. This information was passed on to Egypt. Egypt’s Al Qahera News denied the reports. “It doesn’t mean that we have boots on the ground across all of the corridors, but it means we can control and we have the ability to cut off the...

In the lead up to the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) operation to destroy Hamas and secure the release of over 100 hostages – including 8 Americas – believed to be in and around Rafah, leaders around the world from Joe Biden to the collective leftist leaders of the European Union to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi panicked and ordered Israel to forestall its necessary means to end the war.Why did world leaders clamor for Israel to do nothing?What are they hiding?It turns out they are hiding a lot.Over one million Gazans were said to be sheltering in humanitarian safe areas...

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi praised the newly-announced agreement of normalization between the United Arab of Emirates and Israel under the US brokerage. “I followed with great interest and appreciation the tripartite joint statement between the United States of America, the […] United Arab Emirates and Israel regarding the agreement to stop Israel's annexation of the Palestinian territories,” said President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on his official Twitter on Thursday. He praised this move as it would “bring peace to the Middle East,” Saying “I value the efforts that were exerted by those who in charge of this agreement in...

More than a dozen civilians, including women and children, have been killed in Egypt's restive northern Sinai Peninsula over the past two weeks from explosive devices laid down in their homes by terrorists... Islamic State members attacked several villages in the town of Bir al-Abd in July, forcing people to flee their homes.... The ISIS members, however, had laid booby traps in several houses that killed at least 14 people, including six from the same family ... At least 10 others have been wounded since Oct. 12... The tribes of North Sinai have been heavily targeted by terrorists who view...

With settlement efforts gaining pace, Egypt has proved capable of mediating between the opposing sides in Libya, though it had thrown its weight behind the eastern forces fighting the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and its Misratan allies, which Turkey has backed with military, intelligence and militia support. Ankara's rigid attitude in the conflict has reduced its clout to influence over only its allies. And the infighting in the GNA presents a further risk to Turkish interests in the upcoming settlement process. In other words, Turkey has failed to preserve the advantage it gained through its scale-tipping military...

An Egyptian government-appointed village mayor has just ruled that a Christian family must sell its home and leave their village, in what is being described as a strange and unprecedented incident for that village. This happened during a traditional “reconciliation session.”  In Egypt, local authorities and involved parties of a dispute often meet outside of courtrooms in an effort to resolve matters and restore peace before getting the law involved. The case revolves around a Christian youth who accidentally hit and killed a Muslim girl with his motorcycle in the narrow streets of the village of Hawarat al-Maqta.  Despite the...

CAIRO (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Coptic Pope Tawadros II at Cairo’s largest Coptic cathedral on Monday in what state media said was an unprecedented visit by an official from the conservative Muslim kingdom. The visit was part of a three-day stay in Egypt for Prince Mohammed, his first public trip abroad since he became heir apparent last year. He will head for Britain and the United States later this month. Cairo and Riyadh have strengthened ties in recent years and Egypt has received billions of dollars in aid from its rich Gulf Arab ally....

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his Egypt visit. (SPA) Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, visited on Monday Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo’s Abbasiya neighborhood. Prince Mohammed met Coptic Pope Tawadros II at Cairo’s largest Coptic cathedral This marks the first visit of its kind by a senior Saudi official to the seat of the Coptic Orthodox patriarchate

The level of activity at the desert site - where trucks rumble down newly built roads and cranes swing over unfinished apartment blocks - reflects the new city's political importance... Known as the New Administrative Capital, it is the biggest of a series of mega-projects championed by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as a source of growth and jobs. Soon after coronavirus began to spread, Sisi postponed moving the first civil servants to the new city and moved back the opening of a national museum adjoining the pyramids to next year. Productivity dipped as companies adapted to health guidelines and some...

Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State The American University in Cairo. Cairo, Egypt January 10, 2019 “We need to acknowledge that truth, because if we don’t, we make bad choices – now and in the future. And our choices, the choices we make today have consequences for nations, and for millions and millions of people, for our safety, for our economic prosperity, for our personal freedoms, and those of our children.” https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2019/01/288410.htm

The largest Christian cathedral in the Middle East is being erected 40 km from Cairo on the decision of Egyptian president al Sisi, as a “symbol of coexistence”. On three shifts, 3000 men work in the construction site 24 hours a day. A first part of the complex was inaugurated on Christmas eve, celebrated by Coptic Christians January 6-7. Now it’s a race against time to complete it by next Christmas. Everyone is at work, Christian and Muslim engineers, with the support of the military. SIR visited the site. It’s still a building site but once finished it will be...

Editor's Note: This piece was coauthored by Bruce Abramson.It’s hard to miss the stakes for America in November’s election. President Trump and the GOP base inhabit a starkly different world than do Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and progressive Democrats. That difference transcends mere policy debate; America’s political parties operate on different moral planes. In no foreign context is that moral divergence clearer than the Middle East. Two recent events illuminate the gap: The Biden-led 2020 Democrat Platform, and the UAE/Israel pact that President Trump brokered. The election will determine whether the Middle East continues on the path towards stability and...

The gathering will take place on June 25-26 and will be attended by several Gulf Arab States as well as Arab partners for peace all over the region. By Mike Evans Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump hold up the signed document acknowledging Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, on March 25, 2019. (photo credit: AMOS BEN-GERSHOM/GPO) The Trump administration announced on Sunday the first stages of the peace plan roll-out, confirming that it will host a workshop in Bahrain in late June to focus on more direct economic investments of the West Bank and Gaza. The...

President Trump is destroying Obama’s insane Middle East policies one day at a time and the world is a much safer place. Politico Magazine surprisingly uncovered and released a report critical of the Obama Administration shortly after the 2016 election entitled, “The secret backstory of how Obama let Hezbollah off the hook“. The long piece started: In its determination to secure a nuclear deal with Iran, the Obama administration derailed an ambitious law enforcement campaign targeting drug trafficking by the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah, even as it was funneling cocaine into the United States, according to a POLITICO investigation.The campaign,...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for supporting forces based in eastern Libya, after Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi met Libyan tribesmen who urged Cairo to intervene in the war. Turkey has been providing military aid to the United Nations-recognised government in the Libya conflict, while Egypt, the UAE and Russia have backed its foes in a rival administration based in the east. Recent weeks have seen dramatic military advances by the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), which drove back forces of the eastern renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar who had...

The Egyptian parliament will meet on Monday to discuss President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi’s decision to send ground troops into Libya reports Aawsat. The president, who is also the military’s chief of staff, still needs the approval of two-thirds of Cairo’s lawmakers as well as a recommendation from the national defense council before deploying military forces into combat missions on foreign soil. Sisi led a meeting on Sunday for the council to discuss the developments taking place in Libya as part of Egyptian efforts to “maintain the current frontlines” and prevent either side from breaching those red lines. The stated objective...

A former Iranian hostage who was tortured by the oppressive regime slammed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for abandoning him and other detainees while the Obama administration pursued the landmark nuclear deal with Tehran. Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese national who was detained in Iran from 2015 to 2019 on charges he spied for the United States, lashed out on Tuesday at Biden after the former vice president accused President Donald Trump of treating Egyptian president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi as his "favorite dictator." "With all due respect Mr. Biden, I don't think you are well-positioned to comment on this subject," Zakka...

The warplanes, a mix of at least 14 MiG-29 fighters and Su-24 fighter-bombers, appear to have taken off from a base in Russia sometime in the middle of May and flown to Hmeimeem, Russia’s airbase on Syria’s Mediterranean coast. There they were repainted, their Russian Federation Air Force markings obscured, before flying more than 1,200 miles and landing in eastern Libya, in territories controlled by Russia’s ally, strongman-in-waiting Khalifa Haftar. The deployment, which the Pentagon revealed last week and Moscow denied, is the latest in a series of escalations that have seen all types of weapons — Turkish and Emirati...