Egypt, Romania Stress Peaceful Solutions to Regional Disputes

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with his Romanian counterpart, Klaus Iohannis, at Al-Ittihadiya Palace on Wednesday (Egyptian Presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with his Romanian counterpart, Klaus Iohannis, at Al-Ittihadiya Palace on Wednesday (Egyptian Presidency)
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Egypt, Romania Stress Peaceful Solutions to Regional Disputes

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with his Romanian counterpart, Klaus Iohannis, at Al-Ittihadiya Palace on Wednesday (Egyptian Presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with his Romanian counterpart, Klaus Iohannis, at Al-Ittihadiya Palace on Wednesday (Egyptian Presidency)

Egypt and Romania agreed Wednesday on the importance of exerting concerted efforts to achieve peaceful solutions to regional disputes.

This came during a meeting between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his Romanian counterpart, Klaus Iohannis, at Al-Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo.

The Egyptian Presidency’s spokesperson, Bassam Radi, said Sisi looked forward to further advancing bilateral cooperation with Romania.

Sisi had visited Bucharest in June 2019, marking the first visit by an Egyptian President to Romania in about 15 years.

Radi said the two presidents discussed ways to promote cooperation, mainly in trade, and they commended the convening of the Egyptian-Romanian Economic Forum on the sidelines of the Romanian President’s current visit to Egypt.

The talks also touched on cooperation in the field of energy, given the two countries’ commitment to diversifying their sources of energy.

Also, the two presidents underscored the importance of exerting concerted efforts to achieve peaceful solutions to regional disputes.

Within this framework, they agreed on the importance of holding elections in Libya in December 2021 to give the Libyan people the chance to choose a united government that would preserve the country’s security, stability, unity and sovereignty.

Sisi and Iohannis stressed the need to commit to UN resolutions on the withdrawal of all mercenaries and foreign forces from Libya.

The two officials also tackled the latest developments in efforts to revive the peace process in the Middle East, and ensure calm between Israel and the Palestinians.

Sisi reviewed his country’s efforts to combat terrorism and extremist ideology, underlining the need for the international community to address its root-causes through a comprehensive approach.

Sisi underscored Egypt’s commitment to combating illegal migration and highlighted his country’s efforts in successfully addressing the movement of refugees across the Mediterranean.

For his part, Iohannis confirmed his keenness on furthering coordination and consultations between the two countries, highlighting Egypt’s pivotal role under the leadership of Sisi to reinforce stability and security in the Middle East and Africa.

He valued Egyptian efforts to combat terrorism and extremist ideology, as well as the successful Egyptian experience in addressing illegal migration, also lauding Cairo’s efforts to enhance dialogue among African and Arab countries and EU states.

“Romania is keen on supporting Egypt’s stance and conveying it to the EU, in light of it being one of the most important neighborhood countries to the EU,” Radi said.



Members of UN Security Council Call for Surge in Assistance to Gaza

 Palestinian man Moein Abu Odeh searches for clothes through the rubble of a house destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 18, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian man Moein Abu Odeh searches for clothes through the rubble of a house destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 18, 2024. (Reuters)
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Members of UN Security Council Call for Surge in Assistance to Gaza

 Palestinian man Moein Abu Odeh searches for clothes through the rubble of a house destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 18, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian man Moein Abu Odeh searches for clothes through the rubble of a house destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 18, 2024. (Reuters)

Members of the United Nations Security Council called on Monday for a surge in assistance to reach people in need in Gaza, warning that the situation in the Palestinian enclave was getting worse.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said there needs to be a "huge, huge rise in aid" to Gaza, where most of the population of 2.3 million people has been displaced and the enclave's health officials say more than 43,922 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive.

"The situation is devastating, and frankly, beyond comprehension, and it's getting worse, not better. Winter's here. Famine is imminent, and 400 days into this war, it is totally unacceptable that it's harder than ever to get aid into Gaza," Lammy said.

Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel in October last year, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council that Washington was closely watching Israel's actions to improve the situation for Palestinians and engaging with the Israeli government every day.

"Israel must also urgently take additional steps to alleviate the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza," she said.

President Joe Biden's administration concluded this month that Israel was not currently impeding assistance to Gaza and therefore not violating US law, even as Washington acknowledged the humanitarian situation remained dire in the Palestinian enclave.

The assessment came after the US in an Oct. 13 letter gave Israel a list of steps to take within 30 days to address the worsening situation in Gaza, warning that failure to do so may have possible consequences on US military aid to Israel.

Thomas-Greenfield said Israel was working to implement 12 of the 15 steps.

"We need to see all steps fully implemented and sustained, and we need to see concrete improvement in the humanitarian situation on the ground," she said, including Israel allowing commercial trucks to move into Gaza alongside humanitarian assistance, addressing persistent lawlessness and implementing pauses in fighting in large areas of Gaza to allow assistance to reach those in need.

Tor Wennesland, the UN coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said humanitarian agencies face a challenging and dangerous operational environment in Gaza and access restrictions that hinder their work.

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza, as winter begins, is catastrophic, particularly developments in the north of Gaza with a large-scale and near-total displacement of the population and widespread destruction and clearing of land, amidst what looks like a disturbing disregard for international humanitarian law," Wennesland said.

"The current conditions are among the worst we’ve seen during the entire war and are not set to improve," he said.