Egypt, Greece Discuss Boosting Cooperation within East Mediterranean Gas Forum

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias (L) welcomes Foreign Minister of Egypt Sameh Shoukry (R) during their meeting in Athens, Greece, 11 April 2023. (EPA)
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias (L) welcomes Foreign Minister of Egypt Sameh Shoukry (R) during their meeting in Athens, Greece, 11 April 2023. (EPA)
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Egypt, Greece Discuss Boosting Cooperation within East Mediterranean Gas Forum

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias (L) welcomes Foreign Minister of Egypt Sameh Shoukry (R) during their meeting in Athens, Greece, 11 April 2023. (EPA)
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias (L) welcomes Foreign Minister of Egypt Sameh Shoukry (R) during their meeting in Athens, Greece, 11 April 2023. (EPA)

Egypt and Greece are in talks to boost cooperation within the East Mediterranean Gas Forum framework and the tripartite cooperation mechanism that brings the two countries together with Cyprus.

The Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met in Athens with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias. They discussed various aspects of bilateral relations and ways to advance them, and regional and international developments.

The officials agreed on the importance of exchanging visions to develop bilateral and tripartite cooperation to achieve more security and stability for the three countries and strengthen cooperation.

Spokesperson of the Egyptian foreign ministry Ahmed Abu Zeid said Shoukry began his visit to Athens by meeting his Greek counterpart. The ministers held a closed session, followed by extensive bilateral discussions between their delegations.

Shoukry conveyed the government's interest in facilitating Greek investments in Egypt, increasing the volume of trade exchange, and overcoming the obstacles facing Greek companies in Egypt.

The spokesman stated that the two sides praised the joint projects in green hydrogen production and new and renewable energy, namely the Greece-Egypt electricity interconnection project.

He noted that the project allows Egypt to strengthen the energy security of Europe and boosts its ability to produce and export energy while maintaining the common interest of both sides.

Shoukry also addressed several regional and international issues of common concern, including the current escalation in the Palestinian territories, the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, developments in Syria, and elsewhere in the region.

He was keen to brief Greek officials on Egypt's efforts to achieve calm between the Palestinians and Israelis.

The FMs also tackled efforts to confront illegal immigration across the Mediterranean, combat terrorism, and coordinate security and military cooperation.

Abu Zeid added that the FM met with the Greek Prime Minister, which reflected the depth and strength of the strategic friendship between Egypt and Greece that is based on multiple political, economic, and cultural foundations.

Shoukry conveyed a verbal message from President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, underscoring the strength of the strategic partnership between Egypt and Greece and appreciating the continuous development of these relations on various political and economic levels.

The FM affirmed Egypt's aspiration to explore more new areas of cooperation, which in turn requires working together to develop aspects of this cooperation in a way that contributes to making it a role model in relations between friendly countries.



Israel Cuts off Gaza’s Southern City of Rafah, Vows to ‘Vigorously’ Expand in the Territory

 Displaced Palestinians flee from east to west of Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area, Friday April 11, 2025. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians flee from east to west of Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area, Friday April 11, 2025. (AP)
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Israel Cuts off Gaza’s Southern City of Rafah, Vows to ‘Vigorously’ Expand in the Territory

 Displaced Palestinians flee from east to west of Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area, Friday April 11, 2025. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians flee from east to west of Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area, Friday April 11, 2025. (AP)

Israel announced Saturday it has completed construction of a new security corridor that cuts off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza, as the military said it would soon expand "vigorously" in most of the small coastal territory. Palestinians were further squeezed into shrinking areas of land.

"Soon, (military) activity will expand rapidly to additional locations throughout most of Gaza and you will have to evacuate the fighting zones," Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement, without saying where Palestinians were meant to go.

The statement urged Palestinians to stand up and remove Hamas and release the remaining hostages, saying: "This is the only way to stop the war." There was no immediate Hamas response.

Israeli troops were deployed last week to the new security corridor referred to as Morag, the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, after the army ordered sweeping evacuations covering most of Rafah, indicating it could soon launch another major ground operation.

Israel has vowed to seize large parts of Gaza to pressure Hamas to release the remaining 59 hostages, 24 of them believed to be alive, and accept proposed new ceasefire terms.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has also imposed a monthlong blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left the territory’s roughly 2 million Palestinians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle — a tactic that rights groups say is a war crime.

Israel has claimed that enough supplies entered Gaza during the two-month ceasefire that it shattered last month. Aid groups have disputed that.

Netanyahu has said Morag would be "a second Philadelphi corridor," referring to the Gaza side of the border with Egypt farther south, which has been under Israeli control since May 2024. Israel has also reasserted control of the Netzarim corridor, which cuts off Gaza's northern third from the rest of the territory.

The corridors, coupled with a buffer zone that Israel has razed and expanded, give it more than 50% control of the territory.

Katz said Palestinians interested in "voluntarily" relocating to other countries would be able to as part of a proposal by US President Donald Trump. Palestinians have rejected the proposal and expressed their determination to remain in their homeland.

Trump and Israeli officials have not said how they would respond if Palestinians refuse to leave Gaza. But Human Rights Watch and other groups say the plan would amount to "ethnic cleansing" — the forcible relocation of the civilian population of an ethnic group from a geographic area.

Many Palestinians have been crowding into squalid tent camps or the rubble of their previous homes, often displacing multiple times in response to Israel's evacuation orders since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, killed some 1,200 people, many of them civilians, and sparked the war.

Israel on Saturday ordered the evacuation of areas east of Khan Younis ahead of an attack. Military spokesperson Avichay Adraee added that fighters had fired rockets into Israel from these areas.

Israeli strikes across Gaza continued, killing at least 21 people in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants but says most of the over 50,000 Palestinians killed in the war have been women and children.

The ministry said at least 1,500 people have been killed since Israel's surprise bombardment resumed the war last month.

Israel says it has killed around 20,000 fighters in the war, without providing evidence.