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Egyptian-Palestinian Summit in Cairo Rejects Forced Displacement of Palestinians

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas meet in Cairo on Monday. (Egyptian Presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas meet in Cairo on Monday. (Egyptian Presidency)
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Egyptian-Palestinian Summit in Cairo Rejects Forced Displacement of Palestinians

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas meet in Cairo on Monday. (Egyptian Presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas meet in Cairo on Monday. (Egyptian Presidency)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas stressed on Monday their absolute rejection of any attempts aimed at “liquidating the Palestinian issue or the forced displacement of the Palestinians.”

During a meeting in Cairo, they said the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, with East Jerusalem as its capital, is the fundamental for security and stability in the region.

The Sisi-Abbas meeting comes on the eve of an expected visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Ramallah and Cairo. Blinken is on a tour of the region aimed at preventing the spillover of the Gaza conflict into the region.

Experts told Asharq Al-Awsat that Blinken’s trip is also seeking to coordinate positions between Egypt and Palestine on the future of post-war Gaza.

During their meeting, Sisi and Abbas reviewed the latest developments in Gaza and the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding there. They also reviewed the situation in the West Bank where Israeli violence against Palestinians has escalated.

Sisi then reviewed Egypt’s intense efforts and contacts with the various actors to push for a ceasefire and for the immediate and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Abbas expressed immense appreciation for Egypt’s role in support to the Palestinians.

Egypt is currently mediating a resolution of the crisis in Gaza. Last month, Cairo hosted delegations from Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad to discuss a ceasefire. It also recently presented a three-phase initiative for a ceasefire and a solution to the Palestinian issue.

Diaa Rashwan, head of the State Information Service, said on Friday that the plan was sent to the relevant parties and international partners. Egypt was awaiting responses to the proposal.

Former Palestinian minister Hassan Asfour told Asharq Al-Awsat that Abbas's visit to Cairo aims to quell any misunderstandings over the Egyptian initiative, particularly since it proposed the formation of a government of technocrats, which the Palestinian Authority opposes.

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Arab World

Lebanese Official Says US Wants ‘Real Action’ on Money Laundering

Members of Lebanon's group Hezbollah carry the coffins of comrades killed in recent Israeli attacks during their funeral in the southern city of Nabatiyeh on November 2, 2025. (AFP)
Members of Lebanon's group Hezbollah carry the coffins of comrades killed in recent Israeli attacks during their funeral in the southern city of Nabatiyeh on November 2, 2025. (AFP)
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Lebanese Official Says US Wants ‘Real Action’ on Money Laundering

Members of Lebanon's group Hezbollah carry the coffins of comrades killed in recent Israeli attacks during their funeral in the southern city of Nabatiyeh on November 2, 2025. (AFP)
Members of Lebanon's group Hezbollah carry the coffins of comrades killed in recent Israeli attacks during their funeral in the southern city of Nabatiyeh on November 2, 2025. (AFP)

A Lebanese official said Monday that a US delegation on a visit to discuss ways to cut off Iran-backed Hezbollah's funding streams had called on Beirut to take "real action" on money laundering.

The delegation headed by senior director for counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka held talks with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Sunday and met with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Monday.

Salam discussed with US officials "the government's efforts to combat money laundering" and "strengthening state authority over ports and airports", according to his office.

A Lebanese official who requested anonymity told AFP that the US delegation "delivered a very firm and clear message: they want real action before the end of the year".

"They want Lebanese authorities to counter money laundering, the cash economy and close Al-Qard al-Hassan," the official said, referring to a Hezbollah-linked financial firm sanctioned by Washington.

Since January 2025, Iran's Revolutionary Guards have "transferred over $1 billion" to Hezbollah, "mostly through money exchange companies", said a US Treasury statement.

Aoun said he told US officials on Sunday that "Lebanon strictly applies the measures adopted to prevent money laundering, smuggling, or its use in financing terrorism".

Hezbollah was severely weakened in its most recent war with Israel, which was halted by a November 2024 ceasefire.

Despite the ceasefire, Israel has kept up attacks on Lebanon, where it continues to hold five positions.

Aoun has called for direct talks with Israel to end the attacks.

Gorka said on X on Monday that today Aoun "is positioned to help realize (US) President Donald Trump's vision for peace in the Middle East under a new, broader Abraham Accords".

A number of Arab countries normalized ties with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Accords.

The United States has intensified pressure on the Lebanese authorities to disarm Hezbollah, a plan opposed by the group and its allies.

On Thursday, the US imposed sanctions on three Hezbollah members allegedly involved in the transfer of tens of millions of dollars from Iran, the group's main sponsor.

Part of the funding was via money exchange businesses that operate in cash, the US Treasury said.

Arab World

Lebanon Set to Free Hannibal Gaddafi After Bail Paid

An undated picture allegedly found in the personal laptop of Hannibal al-Gaddafi and released by Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters on Sept. 7, 2011 shows Hannibal Gaddafi in Rome. (AFP)
An undated picture allegedly found in the personal laptop of Hannibal al-Gaddafi and released by Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters on Sept. 7, 2011 shows Hannibal Gaddafi in Rome. (AFP)
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Lebanon Set to Free Hannibal Gaddafi After Bail Paid

An undated picture allegedly found in the personal laptop of Hannibal al-Gaddafi and released by Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters on Sept. 7, 2011 shows Hannibal Gaddafi in Rome. (AFP)
An undated picture allegedly found in the personal laptop of Hannibal al-Gaddafi and released by Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters on Sept. 7, 2011 shows Hannibal Gaddafi in Rome. (AFP)

Hannibal al-Gaddafi, son of Libya's deposed ruler Moammar al-Gaddafi, is expected to be released from a Lebanese prison after his bail was paid on Monday, his lawyer and a judicial official told AFP.

The younger Gaddafi, 49, has been in pre-trial detention for nearly a decade after his arrest in Lebanon on charges of withholding information about the 1978 disappearance of Lebanese Shiite cleric Moussa al-Sadr in Libya.

He was two years old at the time of Sadr's disappearance.

"The bail was paid this morning," Gaddafi’s French lawyer Laurent Bayon told AFP. "Hannibal Gaddafi will finally be free. It's the end of a nightmare for him that lasted 10 years."

In October, a judge ordered Gaddafi’s release against bail set at $11 million, which was reduced to $900,000 last week after an appeal by his defense team.

A Lebanese judicial source confirmed the bail was paid and said Gaddafi’s legal team was completing release procedures.

Bayon said his client was set to leave Lebanon for a "confidential" destination, adding that he holds a Libyan passport.

"If Gaddafi was able to be arbitrarily detained in Lebanon for 10 years, it's because the justice system was not independent," Bayon said.

He said the move towards his client's release reflected a restoration of judicial independence under Lebanon's reformist government that was formed in January.

Sadr -- the founder of the Amal movement, now an ally of the Hezbollah party -- went missing during an official visit to Libya, along with an aide and a journalist.

Beirut blamed the disappearances on then ruler Moammar Gaddafi, who was overthrown and killed decades later in a 2011 uprising.

Ties between the two countries have been strained ever since the trio went missing.

Married to Lebanese model Aline Skaf, Hannibal Gaddafi fled to Syria after the start of the Libyan uprising.

He was kidnapped in December 2015 by armed men who took him to Lebanon, where authorities released him from the kidnappers and later detained him.

Arab World

Intense Fighting in Central Sudan Displaces 2,000 in Just Days, UN Agency Says

CORRECTS BYLINE.- This photo released by The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), shows displaced children from el-Fasher playing at a camp where they sought refuge from fighting between government forces and the RSF, in Tawila, Darfur region, Sudan, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. (Sarah Vuylsteke/NRC via AP)
CORRECTS BYLINE.- This photo released by The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), shows displaced children from el-Fasher playing at a camp where they sought refuge from fighting between government forces and the RSF, in Tawila, Darfur region, Sudan, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. (Sarah Vuylsteke/NRC via AP)
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Intense Fighting in Central Sudan Displaces 2,000 in Just Days, UN Agency Says

CORRECTS BYLINE.- This photo released by The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), shows displaced children from el-Fasher playing at a camp where they sought refuge from fighting between government forces and the RSF, in Tawila, Darfur region, Sudan, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. (Sarah Vuylsteke/NRC via AP)
CORRECTS BYLINE.- This photo released by The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), shows displaced children from el-Fasher playing at a camp where they sought refuge from fighting between government forces and the RSF, in Tawila, Darfur region, Sudan, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. (Sarah Vuylsteke/NRC via AP)

Intense fighting in central Sudan displaced some 2,000 people over the past three days, the UN migration agency said Monday, the latest in a war that has convulsed the country for more than two years and killed tens of thousands.

The International Organization for Migration said the displaced fled from several towns and villages in the area of Bara in North Kordofan province between Friday and Sunday.

Kordofan has been one of two areas, along with the western Darfur region, that recently became the epicenter of the war between the Sudanese army and its rival Rapid Support Forces.

The RSF capture of the key city of el-Fasher left hundreds dead and forced tens of thousands to flee to overcrowded camps to escape reported atrocities by the paramilitary force, according to aid groups and UN officials. The IOM said nearly 92,000 people have left el-Fasher and surrounding villages, The AP news reported.

The war between the RSF and the military began in 2023, when tensions erupted between the two former allies that were meant to oversee a democratic transition after a 2019 uprising. The fighting has killed at least 40,000 people, according to the World Health Organization, and displaced 12 million. However, aid groups say the true death toll could be many times higher.

In late October, RSF fighters launched attacks in the town of Bara in North Kordofan, killing at least 47 people, including women and children, the local aid group Sudan Doctors Network said at the time.

The IOM estimated that nearly 39,000 people had fled several villages and towns in North Kordofan since Oct. 26. They were mostly headed north, toward the Sudanese capital of Khartoum and the adjacent Omdurman region, as well as Sheikan in North Kordofan.

Also Monday, the RSF claimed its fighters entered the town of Babanusa in West Kordofan province and were heading toward the army headquarters.

Salah Semsaya, a volunteer with the local group Emergency Response Rooms, told The AP that other volunteers from the town of Babanusa working with charity kitchens in the area reported a decline in the number of families coming to get food — apparently an indication that many had left or fled the area. Definitive figures could not be confirmed.

Darfur Atrocities

In Darfuean while, Sudan Doctors Network reported on Sunday that the RSF collected hundreds of bodies from the streets of el-Fasher and buried some in mass graves while burning others.

The RSF was acting in a “desperate attempt to conceal evidence of their crimes against civilians,” the network said.

Satellite images analyzed last week appeared to show the RSF disposing of bodies after they seized and rampaged through el-Fasher. Images by the Colorado-based firm Vantor show a fire at the Saudi hospital in el-Fasher on Thursday, near a collection of white objects seen days earlier in other Vantor photos.

The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab described the images as showing the “burning of objects that may be consistent with bodies.”