Egypt, South Sudan Agree on Boosting Cooperating in All Fields

Egypt's Ambassador to South Sudan Moataz Moustafa Abdel Kader meets with South Sudan's Minister of Energy and Dams Peter Marcello. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
Egypt's Ambassador to South Sudan Moataz Moustafa Abdel Kader meets with South Sudan's Minister of Energy and Dams Peter Marcello. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
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Egypt, South Sudan Agree on Boosting Cooperating in All Fields

Egypt's Ambassador to South Sudan Moataz Moustafa Abdel Kader meets with South Sudan's Minister of Energy and Dams Peter Marcello. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
Egypt's Ambassador to South Sudan Moataz Moustafa Abdel Kader meets with South Sudan's Minister of Energy and Dams Peter Marcello. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)

Egypt's Ambassador to South Sudan Moataz Moustafa Abdel Kader and South Sudan's Minister of Energy and Dams Peter Marcello stressed on Friday their countries’ commitment to advance and expand cooperation in all fields.

They met in Juba to review the close brotherly relations between their countries, read a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

It said Abdel Kader underscored the directives of the Egyptian political leadership to develop all forms of cooperation with South Sudan in various vital sectors.

The ambassador reviewed Egypt's efforts made to support the energy sector and its ongoing progress in rehabilitating and operating power stations in the southern Sudan towns of Rumbek and Yambio.

He expressed "Egypt’s readiness to intensify training programs, capacity building and transfer of expertise to qualify South Sudanese workers" in the energy sector.

For his part, Marcello stressed his great appreciation for Egypt’s continuous support to South Sudan, praising the level of advanced cooperation between the countries in the energy sector, particularly electrical projects. H also cited the establishment of a solar power plant to integrate renewable energy in South Sudan.

Separately, Egyptian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel Ghaffar met in Cairo on Friday with his South Sudanese counterpart, Gabriel Changson Chang, to discuss cooperation in science, technology and innovation.

Abdel Ghaffar stressed the "deepness of relations between Egypt and South Sudan," noting that Cairo pays special attention to Africa, especially the Nile Basin countries.

He announced that his country aims to provide full support to Sudanese students studying in Egyptian universities in all disciplines.

For his part, Changson Chang stressed the "distinguished and strong relations" between the two countries and he expressed South Sudan’s aspiration to benefit from the Egyptian scientific expertise in promoting the higher education, science and technology system.



Israeli Strikes Hit Dozens of Targets in Gaza as Ceasefire Efforts Stall

A man looks through the rubble to inspect a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 18, 2025. (AFP)
A man looks through the rubble to inspect a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Israeli Strikes Hit Dozens of Targets in Gaza as Ceasefire Efforts Stall

A man looks through the rubble to inspect a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 18, 2025. (AFP)
A man looks through the rubble to inspect a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 18, 2025. (AFP)

Israeli airstrikes hit around 40 targets across the Gaza Strip over the past day, the military said on Friday, hours after Hamas rejected an Israeli ceasefire offer that it said fell short of its demand to agree a full end to the war.

Last month, the Israeli military broke off a two-month truce that had largely halted fighting in Gaza and has since pushed in from the north and south, seizing almost a third of the enclave as it seeks to pressure Hamas into agreeing to release hostages and disarm.

The military said troops were operating in the Shabura and Tel Al-Sultan areas near the southern city of Rafah, as well as in northern Gaza, where it has taken control of large areas east of Gaza City.

Egyptian mediators have been trying to revive the January ceasefire deal, which broke down when Israel resumed airstrikes and sent ground troops back into Gaza, but there has been little sign that the two sides have moved closer on fundamental issues.

Late on Thursday, Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas' Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.

But he dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing "impossible conditions".

Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya's comments but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. The ceasefire offer it made through Egyptian mediators includes talks on a final settlement to the war but no firm agreement.

Defense Minister Israel Katz also said this week that troops would remain in the buffer zone around the border that now extends deep into Gaza and cuts the enclave in two, even after any settlement.