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Egypt: New Entry Rules for Syrians

The Syrian Embassy in Cairo announced easing measures for community members wishing to leave Egypt (Syria Al-Ghad Relief Foundation)
The Syrian Embassy in Cairo announced easing measures for community members wishing to leave Egypt (Syria Al-Ghad Relief Foundation)
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Egypt: New Entry Rules for Syrians

The Syrian Embassy in Cairo announced easing measures for community members wishing to leave Egypt (Syria Al-Ghad Relief Foundation)
The Syrian Embassy in Cairo announced easing measures for community members wishing to leave Egypt (Syria Al-Ghad Relief Foundation)

Egypt has tightened its entry rules for Syrians, while the Syrian Embassy in Cairo announced on Thursday measures to help Syrians wishing to leave Egypt and return home.

The Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority recently directed airlines to stop accepting Syrian passengers from abroad unless they hold a temporary non-tourist residence permit in Egypt. Airlines that fail to comply face fines.

This follows an earlier decision in December barring Syrians with European, Gulf, US, or Canadian residencies, as well as Schengen visa holders, from entering Egypt without prior security clearance, according to the Syrian Community Association in Egypt.

Molhem Al-Khan, Board Director of the Syria Al-Ghad Relief Foundation, said the restrictions are driven by security concerns, as Egypt seeks to prevent individuals who may threaten national security from entering.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that a lack of security coordination with Syria’s current administration has prompted Egypt to take extra precautions.

Former Egyptian Assistant Interior Minister Farouk Al-Moqrahy said the measures aim to protect Egypt from people linked to banned groups like the Muslim Brotherhood or other extremist organizations.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Moqrahy said the new rules reflect Egypt’s broader efforts to address security risks amid ongoing instability in the region.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Embassy in Cairo announced free travel permits for Syrians in Egypt who wish to return home but lack valid passports.

In a statement on Thursday, the Embassy said permits are issued the same day without appointments. Applicants need to provide an ID and a photo.

The initiative aims to help Syrians unable to renew their passports and support those eager to return to Syria.

Around 1.5 million Syrians live in Egypt, according to the International Organization for Migration, with 153,000 registered as refugees by the UNHCR.

Following the leadership change in Syria after Bashar al-Assad’s fall, some Syrians in Egypt are preparing to return home. Many have recently visited the Syrian Embassy in Cairo to renew passports or obtain travel permits.

The Embassy now offers free travel permits to make it easier for those wishing to return. Al-Khan said this step is part of efforts by Syria’s interim government to support refugees returning home.

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Video Shows Last Moments for Slain Gaza Aid Workers, Red Crescent Says

This image grab from a handout video reportedly recovered from the cellphone of an aid worker killed in Gaza alongside other rescuers - AFP
This image grab from a handout video reportedly recovered from the cellphone of an aid worker killed in Gaza alongside other rescuers - AFP
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Video Shows Last Moments for Slain Gaza Aid Workers, Red Crescent Says

This image grab from a handout video reportedly recovered from the cellphone of an aid worker killed in Gaza alongside other rescuers - AFP
This image grab from a handout video reportedly recovered from the cellphone of an aid worker killed in Gaza alongside other rescuers - AFP

A video recovered from the cellphone of an aid worker killed in Gaza alongside other rescuers shows their final moments, according to the Palestine Red Crescent, with clearly marked ambulances and emergency lights flashing as heavy gunfire erupts.

The aid worker was among 15 humanitarian personnel who were killed on March 23 in an attack by Israeli forces, according to the United Nations and the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

The Israeli military has said its soldiers "did not randomly attack" any ambulances, insisting they fired on "terrorists" approaching them in "suspicious vehicles".

Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said that troops opened fire on vehicles that had no prior clearance from Israeli authorities and had their lights off, AFP reported.

But the video released by PRCS on Saturday appears to contradict the Israeli military's claims, showing ambulances travelling with their headlights and emergency lights clearly flashing.

The six minute and 42 second video, apparently filmed from inside a moving vehicle, captures a red firetruck and ambulances driving through the night.

The vehicles stop beside another on the roadside, and two uniformed men exit. Moments later, intense gunfire erupts.

In the video, the voices of two medics are heard -- one saying, "the vehicle, the vehicle," and another responding: "It seems to be an accident."

Seconds later, a volley of gunfire breaks out, and the screen goes black.

PRCS said it had found the video on the phone of Rifat Radwan, one of the deceased aid workers.

"This video unequivocally refutes the occupation's claims that Israeli forces did not randomly target ambulances, and that some vehicles had approached suspiciously without lights or emergency markings," PRCS said in a statement.

"The footage exposes the truth and dismantles this false narrative."

Those killed included eight PRCS staff, six members of the Gaza civil defence agency and one employee of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, also known as UNRWA.

Their bodies were found buried near Rafah in what the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) described as a mass grave.

- Fear and prayers -

OCHA has said that the first team was targeted by Israeli forces at dawn on that day. In the hours that followed, additional rescue and aid teams searching for their colleagues were also struck in a series of successive attacks.

According to the PRCS, the convoy had been dispatched in response to emergency calls from civilians trapped under bombardment in Rafah.

In the video, a medic recording the scene can be heard reciting the Islamic declaration of faith, the shahada, which Muslims traditionally say in the face of death.

"There is no God but God, Mohammed is his messenger," he says repeatedly, his voice trembling with fear as intense gunfire continues in the background.

He is also heard saying: "Forgive me mother because I chose this way, the way of helping people."

He then says, "accept my martyrdom, God, and forgive me." Just before the footage ends, he is heard saying, "The Jews are coming, the Jews are coming," referring to Israeli soldiers.

The deaths of the aid workers has sparked international condemnation.

Jonathan Whittall, the head of OCHA in the Palestinian territories, said the bodies of the humanitarian workers were "in their uniforms, still wearing gloves" when they were found.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, condemned the attack, raising concerns over possible "war crimes" by the Israeli military.

"I am appalled by the recent killings of 15 medical personnel and humanitarian aid workers, which raise further concerns over the commission of war crimes by the Israeli military," Volker Turk told the UN Security Council on Thursday.

Turk called for an "independent, prompt and thorough investigation" into the attack.

An Israeli military official said the bodies had been covered "in sand and cloth" to avoid damage until coordination with international organizations could be arranged for their retrieval.

The military said it was investigating the attack.