Egypt Arrests 14 Members of Terrorist ‘Hasm’ Group

Egypt detains 14 members of the terrorist Hasm movement. (Reuters)
Egypt detains 14 members of the terrorist Hasm movement. (Reuters)
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Egypt Arrests 14 Members of Terrorist ‘Hasm’ Group

Egypt detains 14 members of the terrorist Hasm movement. (Reuters)
Egypt detains 14 members of the terrorist Hasm movement. (Reuters)

Egypt announced on Saturday the arrest of 14 members of the terrorist Hasm organization.

The Interior Ministry said that the detainees include one of its leaders in the Menoufiya province in the Nile Delta region.

They were planning on carrying out several terrorist attacks, said the ministry in a statement on its Facebook page.

The arrests were made following information received by the national security that said that the Hasm leaders had tasked the group’s members in Menoufiya to reactivate armed operations and prepare terrorist attacks in order to destabilize the country.

Leading member of the group Sami Abdulhamid Abdulaal was arrested in the consequent security operation.

Authorities also succeeded in unearthing the locations of various Hasm cells, detaining 13 terrorists.

The Hasm movement had announced its responsibility for the murder of several Egyptian policemen in the past few months.

The police in return announced that a number of members of the terror group were killed in various security raids throughout the country.



US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.