Egypt, Greece Say they Share Same Interests in East Med

The Egyptian President and the Greek Prime Minister during their press conference in Cairo. (Egyptian Presidency)
The Egyptian President and the Greek Prime Minister during their press conference in Cairo. (Egyptian Presidency)
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Egypt, Greece Say they Share Same Interests in East Med

The Egyptian President and the Greek Prime Minister during their press conference in Cairo. (Egyptian Presidency)
The Egyptian President and the Greek Prime Minister during their press conference in Cairo. (Egyptian Presidency)

Egypt and Greece have stressed that they have similar interests East of the Mediterranean, as they expressed willingness on boosting ties under the framework of the tripartite cooperation mechanism with Cyprus.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met on Monday with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in the presence of high-ranking Egyptian officials including Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla and Intelligence chief Major General Abbas Kamel.

Sisi and Mitsotakis affirmed that the East Med Gas Forum is essential within the framework of the consistency of the two countries’ interests in the eastern Mediterranean region.

The two sides agreed that the forum would open new horizons for cooperation and investments in energy and gas among the region’s countries.

Sisi affirmed Egypt’s keenness to enhance the mechanisms of political, military, commercial and energy cooperation with Greece.

The president also expressed willingness to boost trilateral cooperation among Egypt, Greece, and Cyprus to meet their joint interests and goals in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

Mitsotakis affirmed Greece’s appreciation of the firm relations with Egypt, saying they represent a model of constructive cooperation among Mediterranean countries.

He asserted that Greece would remain a supporter of Egypt in the European Union.

“I have reassured the prime minister about Egypt’s position on the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, which is based on the necessity for all nations to respect international law and the UN charter," Sisi said.

"I emphasized our solidarity with Greece against any practices that could amount to a breach of its sovereignty.”



Israeli Strikes Kill 5 in the Gaza Strip

Palestinians walk through a flooded area in a temporary tent camp after heavy rainfall in Gaza City, Thursday, March 26, 2026 (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians walk through a flooded area in a temporary tent camp after heavy rainfall in Gaza City, Thursday, March 26, 2026 (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
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Israeli Strikes Kill 5 in the Gaza Strip

Palestinians walk through a flooded area in a temporary tent camp after heavy rainfall in Gaza City, Thursday, March 26, 2026 (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians walk through a flooded area in a temporary tent camp after heavy rainfall in Gaza City, Thursday, March 26, 2026 (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Israeli strikes killed at least five people in the Gaza Strip in two separate attacks on Tuesday, health officials said, in the latest violence overshadowing a fragile five-months-old US-brokered ceasefire deal.

Medics said an Israeli airstrike in Jabalia, north of the enclave, killed at least three people earlier in the day, while another airstrike killed two others in ⁠Khan Younis, in ⁠the south.

There was no Israeli comment on either of the two incidents.

Hamas and Israel have traded blame for violations of a ceasefire agreed last October. The Gaza health ⁠ministry said Israeli fire has killed at least 700 people since the ceasefire. Israel said four soldiers were killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.

Israel, along with the US, is also now engaged in a conflict with Iran, while Israeli forces have also invaded southern Lebanon in a new campaign ⁠against ⁠Iran-backed Hezbollah.


Israel's Katz on Lebanon: to Maintain Control Over Entire Area Up to Litani River

Israeli heavy machinery operates in the southern Lebanese village of Adeisseh, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 30 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli heavy machinery operates in the southern Lebanese village of Adeisseh, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 30 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
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Israel's Katz on Lebanon: to Maintain Control Over Entire Area Up to Litani River

Israeli heavy machinery operates in the southern Lebanese village of Adeisseh, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 30 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli heavy machinery operates in the southern Lebanese village of Adeisseh, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 30 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

Israel will establish a buffer zone inside southern Lebanon and maintain control over the entire area up to the Litani River once the conflict with Hezbollah ends, Israel's defense minister said on Tuesday.

"At the end of the operation, the IDF would control ⁠the area up to ⁠the Litani River, including the remaining Litani bridges, while eliminating Radwan forces that infiltrated the area and destroying all weapons there," Israel Katz ⁠said in a statement following a security assessment, calling it a "security zone.”

Radwan forces are an elite military unit of Hezbollah.

Katz said that the more than 600,000 Lebanese residents who have been evacuated northward would be barred from returning south of the Litani ⁠until ⁠the safety of residents in northern Israel is guaranteed.

To that end, "all homes in villages near the border in Lebanon would be destroyed, according to the model of Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza, in order to permanently remove threats near the border to northern residents" in Israel, Katz said.

Israeli military spokesperson ⁠Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said that Hezbollah had fired almost 5,000 drones, rockets and missiles at Israel during the conflict. The Israeli military also announced a new wave of strikes it said were targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut's southern suburbs.


UNRWA Head Seeks Investigation into Killing of Staff in Gaza War

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini attends a press conference on the last day of his mandate at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 31, 2026. (Reuters)
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini attends a press conference on the last day of his mandate at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 31, 2026. (Reuters)
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UNRWA Head Seeks Investigation into Killing of Staff in Gaza War

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini attends a press conference on the last day of his mandate at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 31, 2026. (Reuters)
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini attends a press conference on the last day of his mandate at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 31, 2026. (Reuters)

Discussions are ‌under way for a UN investigation into the killing of more than 390 employees in the two-year Gaza war, the head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency said on Tuesday, making it the deadliest conflict in the body's history.

"I believe that we need to have a panel – a high-level panel ‌of experts to ‌look into the killing of ‌our ⁠staff," said Philippe Lazzarini, ⁠UNRWA Commissioner-General at a press conference in Geneva on the last day of his term.

The topic has been raised with the office of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and with ⁠member states in New York, he ‌added.

"Part of the ‌reason this has not (been) operationalized yet ‌is there is still an ongoing conflict," ‌he added, referring to Israel's continuing airstrikes in the enclave despite an October ceasefire that ended the Israel-Hamas war.

More than 72,000 Palestinians ‌have been killed since the war in Gaza began in October ⁠2023, ⁠according to local health officials, following an attack on Israel by Hamas-led gunmen in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities.

Lazzarini, who will be replaced temporarily by Britain's Christian Saunders, warned earlier this month that his organization's viability was in doubt and that any collapse would result in Israel taking over its humanitarian work.