Sisi Calls for Joint Arab Responsibility to Combat Terrorism

President Sisi addresses the forum. (Presidency spokesman)
President Sisi addresses the forum. (Presidency spokesman)
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Sisi Calls for Joint Arab Responsibility to Combat Terrorism

President Sisi addresses the forum. (Presidency spokesman)
President Sisi addresses the forum. (Presidency spokesman)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called Tuesday for the “adoption of the principle of joint responsibility” to deal with challenges in the region, especially terrorism and extremism.

Speaking virtually during an extraordinary meeting of the Arab Intelligence Forum held in Cairo, Sisi said combatting terrorism on a regional scale requires comprehensive approaches, including ending foreign meddling in Arab affairs, as well as respecting the Arab peoples’ voice and Arab states’ sovereignty.

“Egypt had not and will not spare any effort to assist its fellow Arab states in protecting themselves through comprehensive political solutions,” he stressed.

These solutions should be based on unifying each country’s military institutions, the withdrawal of foreign forces and mercenaries and ending the presence of armed militias.

Presidential spokesperson Bassam Rady said Sisi commended the initiatives launched by the forum to achieve joint security work and exchange assessments in a transparent way.

The extraordinary meeting of the Arab Intelligence Forum was attended by chiefs of intelligence agencies at Arab countries.

They highlighted the importance of the forum as a firm mechanism that supports close intelligence cooperation among Arab states and contributes to establishing a comprehensive and tight system to combat terrorism.



Palestinian TV Says Israeli Strike Kills 5 Journalists in Gaza

A destroyed press vehicle near Al Awda hospital following an Israeli airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 26 December 2024. (EPA)
A destroyed press vehicle near Al Awda hospital following an Israeli airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 26 December 2024. (EPA)
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Palestinian TV Says Israeli Strike Kills 5 Journalists in Gaza

A destroyed press vehicle near Al Awda hospital following an Israeli airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 26 December 2024. (EPA)
A destroyed press vehicle near Al Awda hospital following an Israeli airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 26 December 2024. (EPA)

A Palestinian TV channel affiliated with an armed group said five of its journalists were killed Thursday in an Israeli strike on their vehicle in Gaza, with Israel's military saying it had targeted a "terrorist cell".

A missile hit the journalists' broadcast truck as it was parked in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to a statement from their employer, Al-Quds Today.

It is affiliated with Islamic Jihad, whose fighters have fought alongside Hamas in the Gaza Strip and took part in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war.

The channel identified the five staffers as Faisal Abu Al-Qumsan, Ayman Al-Jadi, Ibrahim Al-Sheikh Khalil, Fadi Hassouna and Mohammed Al-Lada'a.

They were killed "while performing their journalistic and humanitarian duty", the statement said.

"We affirm our commitment to continue our resistant media message," it added.

The Israeli military said in its own statement that it had conducted "a precise strike on a vehicle with an Islamic Jihad terrorist cell inside in the area of Nuseirat".

It added that "prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians".

According to witnesses in Nuseirat, a missile fired by an Israeli aircraft hit the broadcast vehicle, which was parked outside Al-Awda Hospital, setting the vehicle on fire and killing those inside.

The Committee to Protect Journalists' Middle East arm said the organization was "devastated by the reports that five journalists and media workers were killed inside their broadcasting vehicle by an Israeli strike".

"Journalists are civilians and must always be protected," it added in a statement on social media.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said last week that more than 190 journalists had been killed and at least 400 injured since the start of the war in Gaza.

It was triggered by the Hamas-led October 7 attack last year, which resulted in 1,208 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 45,361 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the UN considers reliable.