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Egypt, Türkiye to Consolidate Reconciliation and Prepare for Sisi-Erdogan Summit

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visits the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza (Reuters)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visits the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza (Reuters)
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Egypt, Türkiye to Consolidate Reconciliation and Prepare for Sisi-Erdogan Summit

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visits the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza (Reuters)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visits the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza (Reuters)

Egypt and Türkiye are steadily stepping into a “new era” of cooperation and partnership, crowned by an exchange of high-level visits between the two countries following a decade-long hiatus.

On Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrived in the Egyptian capital on a two-day visit aimed at improving relations between Ankara and Cairo.

On his arrival, the Turkish Minister toured the logistics warehouses of the Egyptian Red Crescent in El-Arish and the Rafah border crossing in North Sinai.

On Monday, Fidan is expected to hold talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, who was appointed Foreign Minister last month.

During the meeting, the two Ministers are set to discuss bilateral relations as well as international and regional developments, mainly the war in Gaza, an Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement said.

“The visit will enhance the Egyptian-Turkish reconciliation,” experts told Asharq Al-Awsat.

It will also prepare for the summit in Ankara between President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as the two countries share common positions on the Palestinian cause and the importance of stopping the Gaza war.

During his Sunday visit to El-Arish, Fidan said that Türkiye and Egypt agree on the need to end the war in Gaza and establish peace in the region through a two-state solution.

Erdogan’s official visit to Egypt on Feb. 14 marked a milestone in bilateral ties.

During that visit, a joint declaration was signed on a High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting co-chaired by the countries’ presidents.

Karam Saeed, expert on Turkish affairs at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday that Fidan’s visit will focus on four main issues.

First, the visit aims to develop and strengthen bilateral relations, deepen reconciliation and implement nearly 20 agreements signed during Erdogan’s visit to Egypt.

Also, the visit of the Turkish FM should further enhance the common positions of both countries regarding their efforts to manage regional conflicts, specifically the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip and will tackle the future of the region.

Additionally, Fidan plans to discuss with Egyptian officials whether Ankara could play a role in mediating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam crisis between Egypt and Ethiopia, especially since the Turkish Foreign Minister was on a visit to Addis Ababa before his arrival in Cairo.

According to Saeed, Fidan’s meetings in Cairo will also discuss preparations for a visit this month by Sisi to Türkiye, which will be the first of its kind for the Egyptian leader.

Turkish political analyst Taha Odeh Oglu said the visit is of “great importance.”

“It puts the two countries at a new stage of partnership, especially as it comes amid an Israeli-Iranian escalation in the region following last week’s assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, and the developments in Gaza and Lebanon,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

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Palestinian Envoy Tells UN Court that Israel is Killing Civilians and Targeting Aid Workers in Gaza

A Palestinian flag flies outside the International Court of Justice, rear, which opened hearings into a United Nations request for an advisory opinion on Israel's obligations to allow humanitarian assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
A Palestinian flag flies outside the International Court of Justice, rear, which opened hearings into a United Nations request for an advisory opinion on Israel's obligations to allow humanitarian assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
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Palestinian Envoy Tells UN Court that Israel is Killing Civilians and Targeting Aid Workers in Gaza

A Palestinian flag flies outside the International Court of Justice, rear, which opened hearings into a United Nations request for an advisory opinion on Israel's obligations to allow humanitarian assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
A Palestinian flag flies outside the International Court of Justice, rear, which opened hearings into a United Nations request for an advisory opinion on Israel's obligations to allow humanitarian assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

A Palestinian diplomat has told the United Nations’ top court that Israel is killing and displacing civilians and targeting aid workers in Gaza in a “man-made catastrophe of unprecedented proportions.”

Ambassador Ammar Hijazi was speaking Monday at the opening of a week of hearings at the International Court of Justice into Israel’s legal obligations to facilitate aid in the occupied territories, The Associated Press said.

Israel denies deliberately targeting civilians and aid staff.

The United Nations’ highest court opened hearings Monday into Israel’s obligation to “ensure and facilitate” urgently needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories, bringing the ongoing conflict in Gaza back into focus in The Hague.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the hearings part of a “systematic persecution and delegitimization” of his country. Speaking in Jerusalem as the hearings began in The Hague, Saar said the court was “becoming completely politicized.” He called the proceeding “shameful.”

A week of hearings has been scheduled in response to a request last year from the UN General Assembly, which asked the International Court of Justice to weigh in on Israel’s legal responsibilities after the country blocked the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from operating on its territory.

In a resolution sponsored by Norway, the General Assembly requested an advisory opinion, a non-binding but legally important decision from the court, on Israel's obligations in the occupied territories to "ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies essential to the survival of the Palestinian civilian population?”

Hearings open as the humanitarian aid system in Gaza is nearing collapse. Israel has blocked the entry of food, fuel, medicine and other humanitarian supplies since March 2. It renewed its bombardment on March 18, breaking a ceasefire, and seized large parts of the territory, saying it aims to push Hamas to release more hostages. Despite the stepped-up Israeli pressure, ceasefire efforts remain deadlocked.

The World Food Program said last week its food stocks in the Gaza Strip have run out under Israel’s nearly 8-week-old blockade, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory. Many families are struggling to feed their children.

The United Nations was the first to address the court on Monday, followed by Palestinian representatives. In total, 40 states and four international organizations are scheduled to participate. Israel is not scheduled to speak during the hearings, but could submit a written statement. Israel's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The United States, which voted against the UN resolution, is scheduled to speak on Wednesday.

The court will likely take months to rule. But experts say the decision, though not legally binding, could profoundly impact international jurisprudence, international aid to Israel and public opinion.

“Advisory opinions provide clarity,” Juliette McIntyre, an expert on international law at the University of South Australia, told The Associated Press. Governments rely on them in international negotiations and the outcome could be used to pressure Israel into easing restrictions on aid.

Whether any ruling will have an effect on Israel, however, is unclear. Israel has long accused the United Nations of being unfairly biased against it and has ignored a 2004 advisory ruling by the ICJ that found its West Bank separation barrier illegal.

On Tuesday, South Africa, a staunch critic of Israel, will present its arguments. In hearings last year in a separate case at the court, the country accused Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza — a charge Israel denies. Those proceedings are still underway.

Israel's troubled relations with UNRWA

Israel’s ban on the agency, known as UNRWA, came into effect in January. The organization has faced increased criticism from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies, who claim the group is deeply infiltrated by Hamas. UNRWA rejects that claim.

Israel alleged that 19 out of UNRWA’s approximately 13,000 staff in Gaza took part in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack in southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and set off the war in Gaza. UNRWA said it fired nine staffers after an internal UN investigation concluded that they could have been involved, although the evidence was not authenticated and corroborated. Israel later alleged that about 100 other Palestinians in Gaza were Hamas members, but never provided any evidence to the United Nations. Israel has also accused Hamas of using UN facilities for cover, building tunnels near UN buildings and diverting aid deliveries for its own use.

The Israeli ban doesn't apply directly to Gaza. But it controls all entry to the territory, and its ban on UNRWA from operating inside Israel greatly limits the agency's ability to function. Israeli officials say they are looking for alternative ways to deliver aid to Gaza that would cut out the United Nations.

UNRWA was established by the UN General Assembly in 1949 to provide relief for Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes in what is now Israel during the war surrounding Israel's creation the previous year until there is a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The agency has been providing aid and services — including health and education — to some 2.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as 3 million more in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

Israel’s air and ground war has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.