Sudan, Egypt Sign MoU on Joint Military Cooperation

 The Sudanese and Egyptian officials sign the MoU in Khartoum on Friday. (SUNA)
The Sudanese and Egyptian officials sign the MoU in Khartoum on Friday. (SUNA)
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Sudan, Egypt Sign MoU on Joint Military Cooperation

 The Sudanese and Egyptian officials sign the MoU in Khartoum on Friday. (SUNA)
The Sudanese and Egyptian officials sign the MoU in Khartoum on Friday. (SUNA)

Sudan and Egypt signed on Friday a memorandum of understanding on joint military cooperation during talks held in Khartoum between both countries’ army chiefs of staff.

They did not reveal details of the MoU, which was signed a few months after a similar military cooperation agreement was reached.

Sudanese Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Mohammed Osman al-Hussein and his Egyptian counterpart Lt. General Mohamed Farid Hegazy concluded on Thursday military talks and signed the understanding, Sudan’s state news agency (SUNA) reported.

Hussein commended the remarkable development in ties between both armies and thanked the Egyptian armed forces for their support and cooperation with Sudan, SUNA said.

Hegazy, for his part, underscored the depth of bilateral relations, noting that his visit is in line with the army’s follow-up of the latest agreements between the two sides.

He had stopped in Khartoum for a short visit on his way back to Cairo from Congo.

The pace of Sudanese-Egyptian military rapprochement has increased recently.

In March, both armies signed a military cooperation agreement covering training and border security.

In May, land, sea and air forces from both countries held the “Guardians of the Nile” maneuvers in Sudan's Um Siyala region.

They were the third drills following the “Nile Eagles-1” held in November 2020 and the “Nile Eagles 2” in April 2021.

The development of military ties is taking place amid mounting tensions with Ethiopia over the massive dam it is building on the Nile River’s main tributary.

Tensions are also high between Sudan and Ethiopia over the al-Fashaqa, a fertile border region where Ethiopian farmers have long cultivated fertile land claimed by Sudan.

Khartoum and Addis Ababa have been locked in a tense war of words over the region, trading accusations of violence and territorial violations in the area.



Israeli Troops Battle Palestinian Fighters in Gaza City of Khan Younis

 Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Troops Battle Palestinian Fighters in Gaza City of Khan Younis

 Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)

Israeli troops battled Palestinian fighters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and destroyed tunnels and other infrastructure, as they sought to suppress small militant units that have continued to hit troops with mortar fire, the military said on Friday.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said troops had killed around 100 Palestinian fighters since Israeli troops began their latest operation in Khan Younis on Monday, which continued as pressure mounted for a deal to halt the fighting.

It said seven small units that had been firing mortars at the troops were hit in an air strike, while further south, in Rafah, four fighters were also killed in air strikes.

The Islamic Jihad armed wing said it fired rockets toward the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and other Israeli towns near Gaza. No casualties were reported, the Israeli ambulance service said.

The continued fighting, more than nine months since the start of Israel's invasion of Gaza following the Oct. 7 attack, underlined the difficulty the IDF has had in eliminating fighters who have reverted to a form of guerrilla warfare in the ruins of the coastal strip.

A Telegram channel operated by the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two main militant groups in Gaza, said fighters had been waging fierce battles with Israeli troops east of Khan Younis with machine guns, mortars and anti-tank weapons.

Medics said at least six Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in eastern Khan Younis.

US PRESSURE

US President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president, both urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a proposed ceasefire deal as soon as possible.

However there has been no clear sign of movement in talks to end the fighting and bring home some 115 Israeli and foreign hostages still being held in Gaza. Public statements from Israel and Hamas appear to indicate that serious differences remain between the two sides.

Local residents contacted by messenger app, said Israeli tanks had pushed into three towns to the east of Khan Younis, Bani Suhaila, Al-Zanna and Al-Karara and blew up several houses in some residential districts.

The military said air force jets hit around 45 targets, including tunnels and two launch pads from which rockets were fired into Beersheba in southern Israel.

Even while the fighting continued around Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, in the northern part of the enclave, Israeli tanks pushed into the Tel Al-Hawa suburb west of Gaza city, residents said.

A Hamas Telegram channel said fighters targeted an Israeli tank in Tal Al-Hawa and shot an Israeli soldier.

Medics said two Palestinians were also killed in an air strike in western Gaza city.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants.

Israeli officials estimate that some 14,000 fighters from armed groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have been killed or taken prisoner, out of a force they estimated to number more than 25,000 at the start of the war.