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Pence Arrives in Egypt, First Stop of Mideast Tour

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi shakes hands with with US Vice President Mike Pence during their meeting in Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters)
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi shakes hands with with US Vice President Mike Pence during their meeting in Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters)
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Pence Arrives in Egypt, First Stop of Mideast Tour

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi shakes hands with with US Vice President Mike Pence during their meeting in Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters)
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi shakes hands with with US Vice President Mike Pence during their meeting in Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters)

US Vice President Mike Pence arrived in Egypt on Saturday, the first of his three stops of his Middle East tour.

He kicked off his trip by holding talks with President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, affirming to his Washington’s support for Egypt’s fight against terrorism.

Pence said "we stand shoulder to shoulder with you and Egypt in fighting against terrorism," and that "our hearts grieve" for the loss of life in recent terrorist attacks against Egyptians.

"We resolve to continue to stand with Egypt in the battle against terrorism," Pence said.

Sisi said the two men discussed ways to eliminate the “disease and cancer” of terrorism and called President Donald Trump a friend.

Pence’s quick visit comes at the start of a three-country tour that also includes stops in Jordan and Israel. This is the highest-level visit from a US official to the region since December, when Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

That decision, which reversed decades of US policy and set in motion the process of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, upset leaders in the Arab world and prompted Palestinians to reject the United States as a broker for peace.

Pence, a conservative Christian who was one of the driving forces behind the move, and Sisi did not discuss the Jerusalem decision during their public remarks in front of reporters.

Egypt has faced security problems, including attacks by ISIS in the North Sinai region. Trump has made the fight against ISIS a top priority.

From Cairo, Pence heads to Jordan, where he will meet with King Abdullah, a close US ally. Abdullah warned against declaring Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, saying it would have a dangerous impact on regional stability and obstruct US efforts to resume peace talks.

Many people in Jordan are descendants of Palestinian refugees whose families left after the creation of Israel in 1948.

Pence will end his trip in Israel, where he will be warmly welcomed in the aftermath of Trump’s decision. He plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, address the Israeli legislature and visit the Western Wall.

Pence is not scheduled to meet Palestinian leaders. They were incensed by Trump’s decision on Jerusalem, which upended the longstanding US position that negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians must determine the city’s status.

The Trump administration’s recent announcement that it was withholding about half of the aid it was due to give to a United Nations relief agency that serves the Palestinians raised questions about fledgling US efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and further undermined Arabs’ faith that the United States can act as an impartial arbitrator.

Pence also plans to visit with US troops while he is in the region.

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Arab World

Italian Authorities Arrest 9 for Allegedly Funding Hamas Through Charities

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Italian Authorities Arrest 9 for Allegedly Funding Hamas Through Charities

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Italian authorities arrested nine people linked to three charitable organizations on suspicion of raising millions of euros in funds for the Palestinian group Hamas, anti-terrorism prosecutors said in a statement Saturday. 

The suspects are accused of sending about 7 million euros ($8.2 million) to “associations based in Gaza, the Palestinian territories, or Israel, owned, controlled, or linked to Hamas,” the statement said. 

Among those arrested was Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, prosecutors said, describing him as the “head of the Italian cell of the Hamas organization.” 

The European Union has Hamas listed on its terror list. 

According to Italian prosecutors, who collaborated with other EU countries in the probe, the illegal funds were delivered through “triangulation operations” via bank transfers or through organizations based abroad to associations based in Gaza, which have been declared illegal by Israel for their ties to Hamas. 

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi wrote on X that the operation “lifted the veil on behavior and activities which, pretending to be initiatives in favor of the Palestinian population, concealed support for and participation in terrorist organizations.” 

There was no immediate comment from the suspects or the associations. 

In January 202, the European Council decided to extend existing restrictive measures against 12 individuals and three entities that support the financing of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

Arab World

Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
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Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)

Türkiye held a military funeral ceremony Saturday morning for five Libyan officers, including western Libya’s military chief, who died in a plane crash earlier this week.

The private jet with Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, four other military officers and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Ankara, Türkiye’s capital, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.

Al-Hadad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing, UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military.

The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to Tripoli, Libya’s capital, after holding defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.

Saturday's ceremony was held at 8:00 a.m. local time at the Murted Airfield base, near Ankara, and attended by the Turkish military chief and the defense minister. The five caskets, each wrapped in a Libyan national flag, were then loaded onto a plane to be returned to their home country.

Türkiye’s military chief, Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, was also on the plane headed to Libya, state-run news agency TRT reported.

The bodies recovered from the crash site were kept at the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute for identification. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told reporters their DNA was compared to family members who joined a 22-person delegation that arrived from Libya after the crash.

Tunc also said Germany was asked to help examine the jet's black boxes as an impartial third party.

Arab World

Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
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Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)

A source from the Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the talks with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) over their integration into state institutions “have not yielded tangible results.”

Discussions about merging the northeastern institutions into the state remain “hypothetical statements without execution,” it told Syria’s state news agency SANA.

Repeated assertions over Syria’s unity are being contradicted by the reality on the ground in the northeast, where the Kurds hold sway and where administrative, security and military institutions continue to be run separately from the state, it added.

The situation “consolidates the division” instead of addressing it, it warned.

It noted that despite the SDF’s continued highlighting of its dialogue with the Syrian state, these discussions have not led to tangible results.

It seems that the SDF is using this approach to absorb the political pressure on it, said the source. The truth is that there is little actual will to move from discussion to application of the March 10 agreement.

This raises doubts over the SDF’s commitment to the deal, it stressed.

Talk about rapprochement between the state and SDF remains meaningless if the agreement is not implemented on the ground within a specific timeframe, the source remarked.

Furthermore, the continued deployment of armed formations on the ground that are not affiliated with the Syrian army are evidence that progress is not being made.

The persistence of the situation undermines Syria’s sovereignty and hampers efforts to restore stability, it warned.