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Erdogan: Restoring Relations with Egypt Will Positively Reflect on Regional Issues

Egypt President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in India (Egyptian Presidency)
Egypt President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in India (Egyptian Presidency)
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Erdogan: Restoring Relations with Egypt Will Positively Reflect on Regional Issues

Egypt President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in India (Egyptian Presidency)
Egypt President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in India (Egyptian Presidency)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that improving relations with Egypt to a better level will lead to positive results on many regional issues, particularly the Syrian one.

Erdogan revealed that he had received an invitation from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in India, to visit Egypt. But he told him that he was first waiting for his visit to Türkiye.

Turkish media had previously announced that Sisi would visit Türkiye on July 27, but the date coincided with Sisi’s attendance at the African-Russian summit on July 27 and 28 last year.

- Strengthening relationships

“We have already set up a high-level strategic cooperation council, and we will work to revive it,” Erdogan indicated, adding that the two countries planned to revive a High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council.

During their meeting on Sunday, Sisi and Erdogan agreed to strengthen the course of relations between the two countries.

They stressed their keenness to strengthen regional cooperation as a well-established strategic approach within the framework of common interest.

Egyptian presidential spokesman Ahmed Fahmy announced Sunday that the two presidents “discussed many issues” in their meeting.

According to Fahmy, they stressed the importance of advancing relations between the two countries and building on tangible progress to resume various mechanisms of bilateral cooperation.

They also expressed keenness to strengthen regional cooperation as a solid strategic approach within a framework of mutual respect, common interest, and sincere intentions to contribute to safeguarding security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

The two presidents exchanged views on regional developments of mutual interest and ways to intensify consultation and coordination between the two countries to enhance all aspects of bilateral relations in the interest of the two countries and peoples.

In a statement on Sunday, the Turkish Presidency said that Erdogan confirmed during his meeting with Sisi that relations between the two countries have entered a new era with the appointment of ambassadors for each of them.

The two presidents and their accompanying delegations discussed supporting relations and efforts to increase regional and global trade and cooperation, added the statement.

Erdogan pointed to the important support provided by the Egyptian authorities to Turkish investors and companies, saying it was essential to boost cooperation in various fields.

Egyptian-Turkish relations witnessed positive developments over the past months, and the two countries increased their diplomatic representation to the ambassador level.

Ten years earlier, they reduced their representation to the level of charge d’affaires following a rift between the two countries when Egypt removed former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi from power.

Sisi and Erdogan shook hands for the first time on the sidelines of the opening of the World Cup in Qatar, and the Turkish president said at the time that he spoke with Sisi for about 30 to 45 minutes.

Sisi called Erdogan after the earthquake that struck Türkiye in February to express the solidarity and sympathy of the Egyptian people.

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Arab World

UNRWA Says ‘Growing Concerns’ Annexation behind Israeli West Bank Operation

An Israeli military vehicle is seen during a military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 04 March 2025. (EPA)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen during a military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 04 March 2025. (EPA)
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UNRWA Says ‘Growing Concerns’ Annexation behind Israeli West Bank Operation

An Israeli military vehicle is seen during a military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 04 March 2025. (EPA)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen during a military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 04 March 2025. (EPA)

A major offensive in the occupied West Bank which over several weeks has displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians and ravaged refugee camps increasingly appears to be part of Israel's "vision of annexation", a UN official told AFP.

Israeli forces carry out regular raids targeting gunmen in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, but the ongoing operation since late January is already the longest in two decades, with dire effects on Palestinians.

"It's an unprecedented situation, both from a humanitarian and wider political perspective," said Roland Friedrich, director of West Bank affairs for UNRWA, the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees.

"We talk about 40,000 people that have been forcibly displaced from their homes" in the northern West Bank, mainly from three refugee camps where the operation had begun, said Friedrich.

"These camps are now largely empty," their residents unable to return and struggling to find shelter elsewhere, he said.

Inside the camps, the level of destruction to "electricity, sewage and water, but also private houses" was "very concerning", Friedrich added.

The Israeli operation, which the military says targets gunmen in the northern West Bank, was launched shortly after a truce took hold in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, a separate Palestinian territory.

The operation initially focused on Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps, where UNRWA operates, but has since expanded to more areas of the West Bank's north.

Friedrich warned that as the offensive drags on, there are increasing signs -- some backed by official Israeli statements -- that it could morph into permanent military presence in Palestinian cities.

"There are growing concerns that the reality being created on the ground aligns with the vision of annexation of the West Bank," he said.

- 'Political operation' -

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has said troops would remain for many months in the evacuated camps to "prevent the return of residents and the resurgence of terrorism".

And Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right politician who lives in one of dozens of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, has said that Israel would be "applying sovereignty" over parts of the territory in 2025.

According to Friedrich, "the statements we are hearing indicate that this is a political operation. It is clearly being said that people will not be allowed to return."

Last year the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion saying that Israel's prolonged presence in the West Bank was unlawful.

Away from home, the displaced Palestinian residents also grapple with a worsening financial burden.

"There is an increasing demand now, especially in Jenin, for public shelter, because people can't pay these amounts for rent anymore," said Friedrich.

"Everyone wants to go back to the camps."

The UN official provided examples he said pointed to plans for long-term Israeli presence inside Palestinian cities, which should be under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

"In Tulkarem you have more and more reports about the army just walking around... asking shop owners to keep the shops open, going out and issuing traffic tickets to cars, so almost as if there is no Palestinian Authority," said Friedrich.

"It is very worrying, including for the future of the PA as such and the investments made by the international community into building Palestinian institutions."

The Ramallah-based PA was created in the 1990s as a temporary government that would pave the way to a future sovereign state.

- 'Radicalization' -

UNRWA is the main humanitarian agency for Palestinians, but a recent law bars the agency from working with the Israeli authorities, hindering its badly needed operations.

"It's much more complicated for us now because we can't speak directly to the military anymore," said Friedrich.

"But at the same time, we continue to do our work," he said, assessing needs and coordinating "the actual emergency response on the ground".

Israeli lawmakers had passed the legislation against UNRWA's work over accusations that it had provided cover for Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip -- claims the UN and many donor governments dispute.

The prolonged Israeli operation could have long-term consequences for residents, particularly children traumatized by the experience of displacement, Friedrich warned.

"If people can't go back to the camp and we can't reopen the schools... clearly, that will lead to more radicalization going forward."

He said the situation could compound a legitimacy crisis for the PA, often criticized by armed Palestinian factions for coordinating security matters with Israel.

Displaced Palestinians "feel that they are kicked out of their homes and that nobody is supporting them", said Friedrich.

A "stronger international response" was needed, he added, "both to provide humanitarian aid on the ground, and secondly, to ensure that the situation in the West Bank doesn't spin out of control".