Terror Convicts on Death Penalty Referred to Egypt Mufti

Confrontations between security forces and demonstrators during the 2013 Nahda sit-in. (AFP)
Confrontations between security forces and demonstrators during the 2013 Nahda sit-in. (AFP)
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Terror Convicts on Death Penalty Referred to Egypt Mufti

Confrontations between security forces and demonstrators during the 2013 Nahda sit-in. (AFP)
Confrontations between security forces and demonstrators during the 2013 Nahda sit-in. (AFP)

The Cairo criminal court referred to the grand mufti on Tuesday four detainees charged with forming a “terrorist cell.”

The mufti will examine their case and issue his non-binding opinion on whether a death sentence against them should be upheld.

Sentences against 30 other members of the “terrorist cell” will be announced on February 19. The charges against them include forming an illegal group, violating public property and the possession of weapons and ammunition for terrorist purposes.

Separately, the Giza criminal court sentenced to various prison terms 262 suspects for security-related offenses over the “al-Nahda sit-in” of 2013.

Seventeen people were sentenced to life in prison, 223 were given 15 years and another 22 accused were given three years.

The court acquitted 115 others accused in the case.

The court also ordered that those sentenced be fined a total of nearly 40 million Egyptian pounds ($2.27 million) for damaging public property.

The accused in the case were arrested while authorities were dispersing a rally held in the aftermath of the ouster of former President Mohammed Morsi in 2013. Their trial has taken up three years, while some other detainees are waiting appeals of their sentences.

Charges against them include murder, resisting authorities and possession of arms.

Earlier on Tuesday, Egypt’s Interior Ministry announced that eight terrorists were killed during a security raid in the al-Arish region.



Israel Seals off the Occupied West Bank

Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
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Israel Seals off the Occupied West Bank

Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)

Israel closed all checkpoints to the Israeli-occupied West Bank Friday as the country attacked Iran, a military official said Friday.

The move sealed off entry and exit to the territory, meaning that Palestinians could not leave without special coordination.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military recommendations.

Around 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank under Israeli military rule.

With the world’s attention focused on Gaza, Israeli military operations in the West Bank have grown in size, frequency and intensity.

The crackdown has also left tens of thousands unemployed, as they can no longer work the mostly menial jobs in Israel that paid higher wages.

Israel launched a wave of strikes across Iran on Friday that targeted its nuclear program and military sites, killing at least two top military officers and raising the prospect of an all-out war between the two bitter adversaries. It appeared to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since its 1980s war with Iraq.

The strikes came amid simmering tensions over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program and appeared certain to trigger a reprisal. In its first response, Iran fired more than 100 drones at Israel. Israel said the drones were being intercepted outside its airspace, and it was not immediately clear whether any got through.

Israeli leaders cast the attack as necessary to head off an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs, though it remains unclear how close the country is to achieving that.