Sisi: Sudan’s Security Part of Egypt’s Security

A handout picture released by the Egyptian Presidency on July 20, 2018 shows President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C) shaking hands with Sudanese officials while being escorted by his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir (L) before the former's departure from Khartoum International Airport.  Egyptian Presidency / AFP
A handout picture released by the Egyptian Presidency on July 20, 2018 shows President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C) shaking hands with Sudanese officials while being escorted by his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir (L) before the former's departure from Khartoum International Airport. Egyptian Presidency / AFP
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Sisi: Sudan’s Security Part of Egypt’s Security

A handout picture released by the Egyptian Presidency on July 20, 2018 shows President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C) shaking hands with Sudanese officials while being escorted by his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir (L) before the former's departure from Khartoum International Airport.  Egyptian Presidency / AFP
A handout picture released by the Egyptian Presidency on July 20, 2018 shows President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C) shaking hands with Sudanese officials while being escorted by his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir (L) before the former's departure from Khartoum International Airport. Egyptian Presidency / AFP

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ended on Friday his two-day visit to Khartoum during which he discussed with his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir bilateral ties.

A joint statement issued following the summit held at the presidential palace in Khartoum said on Friday that “Sisi and Bashir expressed their full support for consolidating the principles of integration between the two countries.”

The statement stressed that both presidents agreed on activating bilateral relations and to follow-up on the implementation of the signed agreements and memorandum of understandings.

The two leaders also expressed their great interest in the security of the Red Sea and the need to continuously coordinate the protection of their interests and the prevention of any foreign interference.

Sisi's spokesman Ambassador Bassam Radi said the Egyptian President welcomed the results of his talks with Bashir, praising the spirit of constructive cooperation between the two countries and the keenness of the two leaderships to strengthen bilateral relations and consolidate historic ties.

“During his meeting with Sudanese leaders, political parties, intellectuals and media figures, Sisi stressed Egypt’s keenness on the stability of Sudan, asserting that Sudan’s security is part of Egypt’s national security,” the Ambassador said.

On Friday morning, the Egyptian President and Sudanese Prime Minister Bakri Hassan Saleh discussed the latest developments in bilateral relations.

The trip was the first since the Egyptian President started his second term last June.

“The successive visits of the Egyptian and Sudanese officials between the two countries assert how the Egyptian and Sudanese leaderships are keen to push bilateral relations forward,” Sisi said before returning to Cairo on Friday evening.



Macron Tells Netanyahu Ordeal of Gaza Civilians 'Must End'

 French President Emmanuel Macron waits to welcome the president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region for a working lunch at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on April 14, 2025. (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron waits to welcome the president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region for a working lunch at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on April 14, 2025. (AFP)
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Macron Tells Netanyahu Ordeal of Gaza Civilians 'Must End'

 French President Emmanuel Macron waits to welcome the president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region for a working lunch at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on April 14, 2025. (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron waits to welcome the president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region for a working lunch at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on April 14, 2025. (AFP)

France's President Emmanuel Macron told Israel's leader during a phone call Tuesday that the suffering of Gazan civilians "must end" and that only a ceasefire in Gaza could free remaining Israeli hostages.

"The ordeal the civilian populations of Gaza are going through must end," Macron posted on X after the call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He also called for "opening all humanitarian aid crossings" into the besieged Palestinian territory.

The United Nation has warned that Gaza's humanitarian crisis is spiraling out of control, with no aid having entered the territory for weeks.

Palestinian group Hamas said Monday that Israel had offered a 45-day ceasefire if it releases half of the remaining hostages held in Gaza.

A Hamas official told AFP that Israel had also demanded that the Palestinian fighters disarm to secure an end to the Gaza war, but that this crossed a "red line".

Macron said he told Netanyahu "the release of all hostages" and the "demilitarization of Hamas" were still an absolute priority for France.

He said he hoped for "a ceasefire, the release of all hostages, humanitarian aid, and then finally reopening the prospect of a political two-state solution".

Macron irked Israel last week when he suggested Paris could recognize a Palestinian state during a United Nations conference in New York in June.

Israel insists such moves by foreign states are premature.

But Macron has said he hopes French recognition of a Palestinian state will encourage not just other nations to follow suit, but also countries who do not recognize Israel to do so.

The creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel is widely seen internationally as the only realistic way to resolve the decades-old conflict. Israel captured Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want all three for a future state. The last serious and substantive peace talks broke down after Netanyahu returned to power in 2009.

A number of European states have recently recognized a Palestinian state in what is largely a symbolic move aimed at reviving the peace process.