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Egypt's Sisi Calls for 'Political Dialogue' between Parties, Youth

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi gives a statement on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination, during a European Union - African Union summit, in Brussels, Belgium February 18, 2022. (Reuters)
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi gives a statement on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination, during a European Union - African Union summit, in Brussels, Belgium February 18, 2022. (Reuters)
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Egypt's Sisi Calls for 'Political Dialogue' between Parties, Youth

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi gives a statement on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination, during a European Union - African Union summit, in Brussels, Belgium February 18, 2022. (Reuters)
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi gives a statement on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination, during a European Union - African Union summit, in Brussels, Belgium February 18, 2022. (Reuters)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi tasked on Tuesday the Youth National Conference with coordinating with political parties, movements and youth groups to hold political dialogue.

He said the aim of the talks is to discuss the "priorities of national work at this current time."

He made his remarks during the annual Egyptian Family Iftar banquet in Cairo, which was attended by senior government officials, politicians, partisans and families of army and police martyrs.

Notable among the attendees were figures who had been absent from recent formal occasions. They included former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi and political activist Khaled Dawoud, who was released from detention just months ago.

Sis had last week called for reactivating the Presidential Pardon Committee and expanding its work base in cooperation with the relevant agencies and civil society organizations.

Political powers and local and international civil society organizations have for years urged Egyptian authorities to release activists and human rights figures who are being held on several charges.

Egypt on Sunday released 41 political prisoners from pre-trial detention. Lawmakers said others will be released soon.

Sisi also addressed the economy during Tuesday's iftar.

He ordered the government and all agencies to hold an international press conference to announce the state's plan to address the global economic crisis.

He urged relevant authorities to continue to provide all basic commodities to citizens at subsidized prices until the end of 2022.

Sisi reassured Egyptians that the government will soon announce a clear plan to reduce public debt, amid efforts to borrow again from the International Monetary Fund.

He assured investors that support will be doubled to the private sector to allow it to further play a role in developing the economy.

Sisi said an initiative will be launched soon to support and localize national industries by bolstering the private sector’s role in expanding the industrial base of medium and large industries.

He also ordered the government to list companies owned by the armed forces on the Egyptian Stock Exchange before late 2022.

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Arab World

Hamas Sources Acknowledge Differences with Mediators on Disarmament Plan

Gunmen from Hamas’ Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades in Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, February 2025 (EPA)
Gunmen from Hamas’ Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades in Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, February 2025 (EPA)
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Hamas Sources Acknowledge Differences with Mediators on Disarmament Plan

Gunmen from Hamas’ Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades in Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, February 2025 (EPA)
Gunmen from Hamas’ Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades in Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, February 2025 (EPA)

At a time when Palestinian sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Egypt, Qatar, and Türkiye helped draft a plan submitted by the Board of Peace to disarm factions in Gaza, Hamas sources acknowledged “differences” with mediators over the proposal.

Sources familiar with the Gaza Administration Committee said mediators involved in ceasefire talks had been fully briefed on the Board of Peace plan before it was presented to Hamas and other factions.

A document published by Reuters and other media outlets last week showed that the Board of Peace, formed by US President Donald Trump, had proposed that Hamas dismantle its tunnel network in the Gaza Strip and give up weapons in stages over eight months.

The plan lays out a timeline starting with a national committee taking over security in Gaza and ending with a full Israeli withdrawal once “final verification” that the enclave is free of weapons is achieved.

Sources close to the Gaza Committee said the three mediating countries, working with the United States, helped shape the proposal, introducing amendments and comments during drafting.

After confirming receipt of the proposal last week, Hamas officials voiced anger at the Board of Peace’s High Representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, after he told the Security Council that reconstruction could not begin until disarmament phases were verified.

Mediator backing

Two Hamas sources in Gaza said they were unaware of any direct involvement by mediators in drafting the plan, but suggested that the mediators likely knew its details before it was presented.

A senior Hamas source outside Gaza said the group had not received clear confirmation of such involvement, but that the proposal’s language and mediator support indicated prior knowledge.

The senior source said the plan had been discussed internally and that some provisions were reviewed with mediators during meetings in Egypt and Türkiye in recent days.

They said a unified Palestinian position would be presented within a clear framework aimed at amending key clauses, rejecting any link between disarmament and progress on other steps.

They stressed “the need to obligate Israel to fulfill its commitments,” saying the current plan allows it to maneuver and pressure what he described as the “resistance” to achieve its core aim of keeping Gaza demilitarized while retaining security control.

“Differences are normal”

Asked about gaps between Hamas and mediators, the three sources agreed there were “differences,” one describing them as “normal.”

The senior source said the proposal does not fully meet Palestinian demands and requires factions to surrender weapons without a meaningful return from Israel.

They pointed to earlier ceasefire talks, when mediators showed responsiveness to faction demands, prompting them and the United States to engage positively with proposals, an approach factions hope will be repeated.

Hamas is likely to struggle to reject the plan outright and may instead seek amendments to secure what it sees as Palestinian gains. Israel has clearly rejected such changes and has signaled a possible return to war.

The plan calls for full disarmament, light and heavy weapons, factional, tribal, and personal, under a framework of “one law and one weapon,” while ensuring Hamas has no role in governing Gaza, either civilly or in security.

An Egyptian source told Asharq Al-Awsat about a week ago that Egypt’s Interior Ministry will receive thousands of candidates for a Palestinian police force tasked with maintaining security in Gaza under a ceasefire deal.

Recruits will undergo six weeks of training, with others set to train in Jordan.

The Gaza Administration Committee has recently opened applications for security roles in the new force, drawing tens of thousands of applicants, although the initial target is about 5,000 officers.

The United States, working with Israel, aims to start reconstruction in southern Gaza, particularly in Rafah, areas under Israeli control, before moving to Hamas-held areas.

Under the plan, reconstruction is tied to disarmament, a condition Hamas has consistently rejected.

Arab World

Israeli Strikes Kill 5 in the Gaza Strip

Palestinians walk through a flooded area in a temporary tent camp after heavy rainfall in Gaza City, Thursday, March 26, 2026 (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians walk through a flooded area in a temporary tent camp after heavy rainfall in Gaza City, Thursday, March 26, 2026 (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
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Israeli Strikes Kill 5 in the Gaza Strip

Palestinians walk through a flooded area in a temporary tent camp after heavy rainfall in Gaza City, Thursday, March 26, 2026 (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians walk through a flooded area in a temporary tent camp after heavy rainfall in Gaza City, Thursday, March 26, 2026 (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Israeli strikes killed at least five people in the Gaza Strip in two separate attacks on Tuesday, health officials said, in the latest violence overshadowing a fragile five-months-old US-brokered ceasefire deal.

Medics said an Israeli airstrike in Jabalia, north of the enclave, killed at least three people earlier in the day, while another airstrike killed two others in ⁠Khan Younis, in ⁠the south.

There was no Israeli comment on either of the two incidents.

Hamas and Israel have traded blame for violations of a ceasefire agreed last October. The Gaza health ⁠ministry said Israeli fire has killed at least 700 people since the ceasefire. Israel said four soldiers were killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.

Israel, along with the US, is also now engaged in a conflict with Iran, while Israeli forces have also invaded southern Lebanon in a new campaign ⁠against ⁠Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Arab World

Israel's Katz on Lebanon: to Maintain Control Over Entire Area Up to Litani River

Israeli heavy machinery operates in the southern Lebanese village of Adeisseh, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 30 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli heavy machinery operates in the southern Lebanese village of Adeisseh, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 30 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
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Israel's Katz on Lebanon: to Maintain Control Over Entire Area Up to Litani River

Israeli heavy machinery operates in the southern Lebanese village of Adeisseh, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 30 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli heavy machinery operates in the southern Lebanese village of Adeisseh, as seen from the Israeli side of the border in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 30 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

Israel will establish a buffer zone inside southern Lebanon and maintain control over the entire area up to the Litani River once the conflict with Hezbollah ends, Israel's defense minister said on Tuesday.

"At the end of the operation, the IDF would control ⁠the area up to ⁠the Litani River, including the remaining Litani bridges, while eliminating Radwan forces that infiltrated the area and destroying all weapons there," Israel Katz ⁠said in a statement following a security assessment, calling it a "security zone.”

Radwan forces are an elite military unit of Hezbollah.

Katz said that the more than 600,000 Lebanese residents who have been evacuated northward would be barred from returning south of the Litani ⁠until ⁠the safety of residents in northern Israel is guaranteed.

To that end, "all homes in villages near the border in Lebanon would be destroyed, according to the model of Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza, in order to permanently remove threats near the border to northern residents" in Israel, Katz said.

Israeli military spokesperson ⁠Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said that Hezbollah had fired almost 5,000 drones, rockets and missiles at Israel during the conflict. The Israeli military also announced a new wave of strikes it said were targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut's southern suburbs.