Egypt, Eritrea Agree to Face Threats in African Horn, Red Sea

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi meets with Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh in Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi meets with Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh in Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
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Egypt, Eritrea Agree to Face Threats in African Horn, Red Sea

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi meets with Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh in Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi meets with Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh in Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)

Egypt and Eritrea on Thursday expressed keenness to continue coordination and consultations at various levels to face threats in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea and support regional security and stability.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi met with Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh in Cairo, in the presence of Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service Major General Abbas Kamel.
During the meeting, Sisi received a letter from his Eritrean counterpart Isaias Afwerki, in which he looked forward to enhancing consultation and coordination on issues of common interest, a presidential statement said.
Sisi confirmed Egypt’s keenness to advance efforts to deepen the distinguished relations and cooperation between the two countries, so as to benefit the two peoples and achieve their common interests, in light of the mounting regional challenges that call for intensifying discussions on ways to address them.
The meeting touched on the regional situation, particularly issues and threats in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea, the statement said.
Both countries confirmed keenness to continue joint coordination and consultation at various levels, so as to support security and stability in the region.
The meeting comes amid escalated tensions in the Horn of Africa after Somaliland agreed in January to grant 20 kilometers of its coastline for 50 years to Addis Ababa, through a “lease” agreement.
Egypt and Somalia rejected the deal, which prompted Arab foreign ministers to convene urgently on January 17 via a virtual conference.
Somaliland, a former British protectorate, declared independence from Somalia in 1991, but the move was not recognized internationally.
The Mogadishu government said it would address this agreement by all legal means, and described it as “a blatant violation of its sovereignty.”
Egypt aims at boosting cooperation with the countries of the Horn of Africa. Last month, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty embarked on a tour operated by EgyptAir to Djibouti and Mogadishu, marking the first direct flights between Egypt and these two African nations.

 



Israel Police Says Forces Kill Five Palestinian Fighters in West Bank

 Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)
Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)
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Israel Police Says Forces Kill Five Palestinian Fighters in West Bank

 Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)
Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)

Israeli forces killed five armed Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Israeli police said.

There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials or armed groups. The Palestinian health ministry confirmed the deaths of only four men.

The Palestinian official news agency WAFA said that Israeli special forces had opened fire on a vehicle that the men were travelling in, in the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank.

Violence has surged across the West Bank since the start of the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza. Hundreds of Palestinians - including armed fighters, stone-throwing youths and civilian bystanders - have been killed in clashes with Israeli security forces.

Dozens of Israelis have been killed in Palestinian street attacks over the past year. At least six people were wounded, two of them seriously, in a stabbing attack in the Israeli city of Hadera on Wednesday, Israeli authorities said.