Sisi Lauds Army, Police Efforts in Defeating Terrorism in Egypt

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi gives a speech to commemorate June 30 protests (Egyptian Presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi gives a speech to commemorate June 30 protests (Egyptian Presidency)
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Sisi Lauds Army, Police Efforts in Defeating Terrorism in Egypt

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi gives a speech to commemorate June 30 protests (Egyptian Presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi gives a speech to commemorate June 30 protests (Egyptian Presidency)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi praised the role of the army and police in combating terrorism and foiling attempts to sow chaos in the period after the Muslim Brotherhood was toppled eight years ago.

Sisi gave a speech commemorating the June 30 revolution that removed former president Mohamed Morsi.

The president reiterated that the revolution “embodied precious meanings and values, the most important of which is the people’s ability to overcome unbeatable challenges through their unity.”

The state faced these challenges with all its tools and forces, including the army and police which succeeded in defeating terrorism, according to the president.

He pointed to a series of national projects, in addition to mobilizing efforts to improve the living conditions of all citizens across the country.

Sisi called for doubling efforts to overcome the challenges imposed in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, the President inspected equipment, vehicles, and engineering machinery participating in the “Decent Life” initiative and called upon agricultural landowners to preserve the remaining land.

Sisi announced that the government has allocated EGP600 billion to implement a “Decent Life” national project to develop Egyptian rural villages within three years. A total of EGP200 billion has been given for each stage of the initiative.

Priority will be given to the national industry in implementing the project, and Egyptian factories have a real opportunity to develop their capabilities and improve the quality of their products, which will help them make profits, said Sisi.

He added that the project will bring about another real change for more than half of the Egyptians in the countryside.

The work is not aimed at developing the sewage system or improving drinking water or electricity only, but rather it is an integrated program for all sectors, including education, health, communications, and agriculture, to change the situation of the entire countryside in the 52 centers at the level of the republic.

Sisi stressed that “urban planning will end the encroachments and abuses of agricultural lands.”

The president noted that the government aims to establish the New Delta by reclaiming approximately 2.5 million feddan, with cultivation set to take place at a very high cost.

He explained that the high cost is due to the use of triple treatment sewage and lifting stations, which will cost the state billions of pounds.

He suggested using the armed forces, in cooperation with the various state agencies, to preserve what is being accomplished in the national project.



UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Israeli forces raided four of its schools in east Jerusalem, ordering their closure.

Israel has severed all ties with the agency, known as UNRWA, and bars it from operating in its territory. It says the agency allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, allegations denied by UN officials.

UNRWA said police entered a training center by force on Tuesday, firing tear gas and sound grenades and ordering its evacuation. It said 350 students and 30 staff were present during the raid on the Qalandiya Training Center.

It said police and city officials ordered the closure of three other schools in east Jerusalem, two of which proceeded with the school day.

Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said police did not enter the UN buildings and that Jerusalem municipal authorities carried out the closures. He said police were deployed to protect the city workers, using “riot dispersal” means in one case where a crowd threw stones at them outside a UN facility.

Roland Friedrich, UNRWA director for the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, said the raids were an “unacceptable violation of United Nations privileges and immunities,” and a “denial of the right to education for children and trainees.”