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.”



Women and Children Scavenge for Food in Gaza, UN Official Says

 Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
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Women and Children Scavenge for Food in Gaza, UN Official Says

 Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)

Large groups of women and children are scavenging for food among mounds of trash in parts of the Gaza Strip, a UN official said on Friday following a visit to the Palestinian enclave.

Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights office for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, expressed concern about the levels of hunger, even in areas of central Gaza where aid agencies have teams on the ground.

"I was particularly alarmed by the prevalence of hunger," Sunghay told a Geneva press briefing via video link from Jordan. "Acquiring basic necessities has become a daily, dreadful struggle for survival."

Sunghay said the UN had been unable to take any aid to northern Gaza, where he said an estimated 70,000 people remain following "repeated impediments or rejections of humanitarian convoys by the Israeli authorities".

Sunghay visited camps for people recently displaced from parts of northern Gaza. They were living in horrendous conditions with severe food shortages and poor sanitation, he said.

"It is so obvious that massive humanitarian aid needs to come in – and it is not. It is so important the Israeli authorities make this happen," he said. He did not specify the last time UN agencies had sent aid to northern Gaza.

US WARNING

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin set out steps last month for Israel to carry out in 30 days to address the situation in Gaza, warning that failure to do so may have consequences on US military aid to Israel.

The State Department said on Nov. 12 that President Joe Biden's administration had concluded that Israel was not currently impeding assistance to Gaza and therefore was not violating US law.

The Israeli army, which began its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the group's attack on southern Israeli communities in October 2023, said its operating in northern Gaza since Oct. 5 were trying to prevent militants regrouping and waging attacks from those areas.

Israel's government body that oversees aid, Cogat, says it facilitates the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and accuses UN agencies of not distributing it efficiently.

Looting has also depleted aid supplies within the Gaza Strip, with nearly 100 food aid trucks raided on Nov. 16.

"The women I met had all either lost family members, were separated from their families, had relatives buried under rubble, or were themselves injured or sick," Sunghay said of his stay in the Gaza Strip.

"Breaking down in front of me, they desperately pleaded for a ceasefire."