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Cairo, Washington to Boost Cooperation in Climate Issues

Rania Al-Mashat, Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, meets with David Thorne, Advisor to the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, in Washington. (Egyptian government)
Rania Al-Mashat, Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, meets with David Thorne, Advisor to the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, in Washington. (Egyptian government)
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Cairo, Washington to Boost Cooperation in Climate Issues

Rania Al-Mashat, Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, meets with David Thorne, Advisor to the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, in Washington. (Egyptian government)
Rania Al-Mashat, Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, meets with David Thorne, Advisor to the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, in Washington. (Egyptian government)

Cairo and Washington discussed on Saturday joint cooperation in fighting climate change as part of Egypt’s hosting of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh in November.

In Washington, Rania Al-Mashat, Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, met with David Thorne, Advisor to the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, to discuss promising investment opportunities in the Egyptian economy, especially regarding renewable energy.

Mashat said the talks are in line with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s decision to increase the volume of energy generated by renewable sources to cover 42 percent of the country’s needs by 2035.

A statement from the cabinet said Mashat and Thorne also discussed how to benefit from the visit of the delegation of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt and the Egyptian American Business Council to the US.

“The two sides also tackled joint cooperation opportunities between Egypt and the US to prepare for a program that increases cooperation between the two countries in climate action, contributing to Egypt’s hosting of the COP27 climate summit, in light of the formation of a joint Egyptian-American climate working group,” the statement added.

Mashat had mentioned the preparations taken by the Egyptian government to organize COP27 while attending the Meridian International Center in Washington to celebrate 100 years of Egypt’s strategic partnership with the US.

“We will work together to private sector investments in key sectors including green and tech,” she stressed.

Meanwhile, Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad held a meeting Saturday with Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Egypt Jan Fulik to discuss preparations for COP27.

Fouad stressed deeply-rooted relations between Egypt and the Czech Republic, welcoming cooperation between the two countries in the fields of climate change and environment.

She expressed hope that the COP27 conference would provide an opportunity to build on the outcomes of the COP26 conference, held in Glasgow last year.

For his part, Fulík said the Czech environment minister is seeking to visit Egypt soon to discuss environment-related issues.

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Arab World

With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
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With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)

After weeks of Israeli bombardment left them with nowhere else to go, hundreds of Palestinians have ended up in a former Gaza prison built to hold murderers and thieves.

Yasmeen al-Dardasi said she and her family passed wounded people they were unable to help as they evacuated from a district in the southern city of Khan Younis towards its Central Correction and Rehabilitation Facility.

They spent a day under a tree before moving on to the former prison, where they now live in a prayer room. It offers protection from the blistering sun, but not much else.

Dardasi's husband has a damaged kidney and just one lung, but no mattress or blanket.

"We are not settled here either," said Dardasi, who like many Palestinians fears she will be uprooted once again.

Israel has said it goes out of its way to protect civilians in its war with the Palestinian group Hamas, which runs Gaza and led the attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that sparked the latest conflict.

Palestinians, many of whom have been displaced several times, say nowhere is free of Israeli bombardment, which has reduced much of Gaza to rubble.

An Israeli air strike killed at least 90 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in the Al-Mawasi area on July 13, the territory's health ministry said, in an attack that Israel said targeted Hamas' elusive military chief Mohammed Deif.

On Thursday, Gaza's health ministry said Israeli military strikes on areas in eastern Khan Younis had killed 14 people.

Entire neighborhoods have been flattened in one of the most densely populated places in the world, where poverty and unemployment have long been widespread.

According to the United Nations, nine in ten people across Gaza are now internally displaced.

Israeli soldiers told Saria Abu Mustafa and her family that they should flee for safety as tanks were on their way, she said. The family had no time to change so they left in their prayer clothes.

After sleeping outside on sandy ground, they too found refuge in the prison, among piles of rubble and gaping holes in buildings from the battles which were fought there. Inmates had been released long before Israel attacked.

"We didn't take anything with us. We came here on foot, with children walking with us," she said, adding that many of the women had five or six children with them and that water was hard to find.

She held her niece, who was born during the conflict, which has killed her father and brothers.

When Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7 they killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the air and ground offensive Israel launched in response, Palestinian health officials say.

Hana Al-Sayed Abu Mustafa arrived at the prison after being displaced six times.

If Egyptian, US and Qatari mediators fail to secure a ceasefire they have long said is close, she and other Palestinians may be on the move once again. "Where should we go? All the places that we go to are dangerous," she said.