Egyptian President, Jordan’s King Condemn ‘Collective Punishment’ against Palestinians

A handout picture released by the Jordanian Royal Palace shows Jordan's King Abdullah II (L) meeting with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on October 19, 2023. (Photo by Chris Setian / Jordanian Royal Palace / AFP)
A handout picture released by the Jordanian Royal Palace shows Jordan's King Abdullah II (L) meeting with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on October 19, 2023. (Photo by Chris Setian / Jordanian Royal Palace / AFP)
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Egyptian President, Jordan’s King Condemn ‘Collective Punishment’ against Palestinians

A handout picture released by the Jordanian Royal Palace shows Jordan's King Abdullah II (L) meeting with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on October 19, 2023. (Photo by Chris Setian / Jordanian Royal Palace / AFP)
A handout picture released by the Jordanian Royal Palace shows Jordan's King Abdullah II (L) meeting with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on October 19, 2023. (Photo by Chris Setian / Jordanian Royal Palace / AFP)

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi met on Thursday with King Abdullah II of Jordan for a closed-door discussion about the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas, and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Egypt’s presidential office said in a statement that followed the meeting that the two leaders condemned Israel’s policy of “collective punishment” against Palestinians in Gaza and its efforts to displace “Palestinians from their lands to Egypt or Jordan.”

Both leaders have since Oct. 7 separately expressed fear about a permanent expulsion of Palestinians into their countries, concerned it could nullify Palestinians' demand for a future state.

Sisi on Wednesday said Egyptians in their millions would reject the forced displacement of Palestinians into Sinai, adding that any such move would turn the Egyptian peninsula into a base for attacks against Israel.



Iraq Seizes More than One Ton of Captagon Pills Shipped from Syria

Pills, which according to fighters loyal to the new ruling Syrian body are captagon, lay scattered next to a container, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria December 12, 2024. (Reuters)
Pills, which according to fighters loyal to the new ruling Syrian body are captagon, lay scattered next to a container, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria December 12, 2024. (Reuters)
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Iraq Seizes More than One Ton of Captagon Pills Shipped from Syria

Pills, which according to fighters loyal to the new ruling Syrian body are captagon, lay scattered next to a container, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria December 12, 2024. (Reuters)
Pills, which according to fighters loyal to the new ruling Syrian body are captagon, lay scattered next to a container, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria December 12, 2024. (Reuters)

Iraq's security forces have seized an estimated 1.1 ton of captagon pills hidden inside a truck that entered Iraq from Syria via Türkiye, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

The drug shipment, the largest ever seized in Iraq, was tracked and intercepted with the assistance of "important information" provided by Saudi's drug enforcement agency, the Interior Ministry spokesperson Brigadier Muqdad Meri said in a televised statement.

Western anti-narcotics officials say the addictive, amphetamine-type stimulant known as captagon has for years been mass-produced in Syria.

Captagon - a mix of amphetamines also known as the "poor man’s cocaine" - is one of the more popular recreational drugs in the Middle East.