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Egypt Arrests 16 Brotherhood Members Planning Hostile Attacks

A riot policeman stands outside the building of the Directorate of Security after an explosion in Egypt's Nile Delta town of Dakahlyia, about 120 km (75 miles) northeast of Cairo December 24, 2013 (File photo: Reuters)
A riot policeman stands outside the building of the Directorate of Security after an explosion in Egypt's Nile Delta town of Dakahlyia, about 120 km (75 miles) northeast of Cairo December 24, 2013 (File photo: Reuters)
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Egypt Arrests 16 Brotherhood Members Planning Hostile Attacks

A riot policeman stands outside the building of the Directorate of Security after an explosion in Egypt's Nile Delta town of Dakahlyia, about 120 km (75 miles) northeast of Cairo December 24, 2013 (File photo: Reuters)
A riot policeman stands outside the building of the Directorate of Security after an explosion in Egypt's Nile Delta town of Dakahlyia, about 120 km (75 miles) northeast of Cairo December 24, 2013 (File photo: Reuters)

The Egyptian Interior Ministry announced it arrested 16 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, accusing them of plotting to smuggle foreign currencies outside the country and provide Brotherhood members residing in Egypt with financial support to carry out hostile attacks.

Egyptian authorities have accused the Brotherhood of inciting violence in the country after the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

The Brotherhood is already considered an outlawed group in Egypt and was included on the country’s list of terror organizations in 2014.

Hundreds of leaders and members of the group, led by Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, are on trial for charges mostly linked to terrorist operations or plots, many of which have been sentenced to death and imprisonment.

The Ministry issued a statement saying the outlawed fugitive Brotherhood members in Turkey set a new plan aiming to harm Egypt's national security and jeopardize the country's stability.

The statement added that the plot also prepares for hostile attacks against police, armed forces, and vital installations intending to spread chaos inside the country, aiming to return to the political scene.

The plot is based on creating three secret networks: smuggling foreign currencies outside the country, smuggling wanted Brotherhood members to European countries via Turkey and providing Brotherhood members residing in Egypt with financial support to carry out a series of hostile attacks, based on the information published by the ministry.

The statement noted that this was done in cooperation with a number of companies owned by Brotherhood elements inside Egypt which are used as a cover to finance their activities.

The Ministry identified the Turkey-based Brotherhood elements involved in the preparation of the scheme: Yasser Mohamed Helmy al-Zanaty, Mahmoud Hussein Ahmed Hussein, Ayman Ahmed Abdel Ghany Hassanein, and Medhat Ahmed Mahmoud al-Haddad.

The security forces found in the acquisition of the 16 defendants arrested amounts of local and foreign currencies, passports, and documents containing the plot.

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Arab World

Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

At least two people were killed and four rescued from the rubble of a multistory apartment building that collapsed Sunday in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, state media reported.

Rescue teams were continuing to dig through the rubble. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the building when it fell.

The bodies pulled out were of a child and a woman, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Dozens of people crowded around the site of the crater left by the collapsed building, with some shooting in the air.

The building was in the neighborhood of Bab Tabbaneh, one of the poorest areas in Lebanon’s second largest city, where residents have long complained of government neglect and shoddy infrastructure. Building collapses are not uncommon in Tripoli due to poor building standards, according to The AP news.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced that those injured in the collapse would receive treatment at the state’s expense.

The national syndicate for property owners in a statement called the collapse the result of “blatant negligence and shortcomings of the Lebanese state toward the safety of citizens and their housing security,” and said it is “not an isolated incident.”

The syndicate called for the government to launch a comprehensive national survey of buildings at risk of collapse.

Arab World

Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
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Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)

Israel's security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank, The AP news reported.

They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.

The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.

Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.

Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

The United Nations' highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.

Arab World

Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the attack by the Rapid Support Forces on humanitarian aid convoys and relief workers in North Kordofan State, Sudan.

In a statement reported by SPA, secretary-general's spokesperson Jamal Rushdi quoted Aboul Gheit as saying the attack constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the deliberate targeting of civilians and depriving them of their means of survival.

Aboul Gheit stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable, end impunity, and ensure the full protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and relief facilities in Sudan.