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Arab World

Egypt Warns Against Liquidating Palestinian Cause, Asserts Displacement as 'Red Line'

Displaced Palestinians return to their homes as they walk near houses destroyed in an Israeli strike (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians return to their homes as they walk near houses destroyed in an Israeli strike (Reuters)
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Egypt Warns Against Liquidating Palestinian Cause, Asserts Displacement as 'Red Line'

Displaced Palestinians return to their homes as they walk near houses destroyed in an Israeli strike (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians return to their homes as they walk near houses destroyed in an Israeli strike (Reuters)

Egypt renewed its categorical rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians, stating that this is "a red line," which it will not allow to be crossed.

Egypt's Commander-in-Chief and Minister of Defense Mohamed Zaki warned on Monday that the current escalations in the Gaza Strip aim at "imposing a reality that leads to the liquidating of the Palestinian cause."

Speaking at the Egypt Defense Expo (EDEX 2023) in Cairo, Zaki said peace eventually must have a "power to protect it."

Earlier, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi affirmed his country's rejection of the "forced displacement" of Gazans, stressing that Egypt will not allow the issue to be settled at the expense of neighboring countries.

Last Saturday, Sisi met with US Vice President Kamala Harris in Dubai on the sidelines of the UN Climate Conference (COP28). Egypt and the US categorically rejected the coerced displacement of the Palestinians, the forced transfer from Gaza or the West Bank, and the siege imposed on Gaza.

On Monday, Sisi witnessed the inauguration of EDEX 2023 for defense and military industries and inspected several pavilions in the exhibition.

Minister Zaki said the exhibition is an important global event under the patronage of the President, coinciding with the current conflicts and wars that threaten regional and international security and stability.

Egypt continues to aim to unite efforts and end conflicts seeking to establish peace, said Zaki, noting that the exhibition is a place for exchanged experiences to enhance capabilities and develop relations between countries in defense and military industries.

He also asserted that it aims to protect the pillars of common national security and deepen the partnership and cooperation with friendly countries in all military fields.

The Minister also stressed that the armed forces will remain a guardian of the nation's security and stability, seeking to defeat any aggression against Egypt.

Meanwhile, Egypt's Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, and its EU and NATO representative, Badr Abdel-Aty, confirmed that Egypt categorically rejects the forced displacement of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip inside or outside its territory, asserting it was a red line that will not be crossed.

Abdel-Aty told the "Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Persons" that Egypt adopted a comprehensive approach to dealing with migrants that includes security, development, economic, and social aspects to address the root causes.

The conference is organized by the European Commission to enhance international cooperation in combating migrant smuggling.

The ambassador said his country hosts about nine million refugees, who enjoy essential services like Egyptian citizens.

Egypt has been receiving hundreds of thousands of Sudanese since the outbreak of the recent crisis.

Last month, Egypt criticized Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who supported a call by two Knesset members, Danny Danon (Likud) and Ram Ben-Barak (Yesh Atid), who wrote in a Wall Street Journal editorial that Western countries should accept Gazan families who expressed a desire to relocate.

Smotrich said it was a voluntary migration plan for the refugees of Gaza.

"I welcome the initiative of the voluntary emigration of Gaza Arabs to countries around the world," Smotrich said in a statement.

"This is the right humanitarian solution for the residents of Gaza and the entire region after 75 years of refugees, poverty, and danger."

He said an area as small as the Gaza Strip without natural resources could not survive alone and added: "The State of Israel will no longer be able to accept the existence of an independent entity in Gaza."

Last Wednesday, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry affirmed that the policy of forced displacement remains a goal for Israel "as it seeks to drive Palestinians from their land by making life in the Gaza Strip impossible."

Shoukry was speaking at the Joint Press Encounter by the Ministerial Committee assigned by the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit as part of a periodic briefing session held by the UNSC on the situation in the Gaza Strip.

The Minister stated that what is happening in the Gaza Strip met with a similar policy in the West Bank that forcibly displaces its residents, whether through unleashing settler violence or demolition operations, evictions, and military incursions into West Bank cities.

He noted that the recent developments were in addition to the annexation of land through systematic settlement operations that cemented the illegitimate occupation.

Furthermore, Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides will visit Egypt and Jordan on Tuesday as part of an initiative to establish a humanitarian aid corridor to Israeli-besieged Gaza, reported Reuters.

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Arab World

Islamic Jihad Denies Withholding Body of Last Israeli Hostage

An Islamic Jihad member looks on as workers dig in search of the corpses of hostages in northern Gaza. (AP file)
An Islamic Jihad member looks on as workers dig in search of the corpses of hostages in northern Gaza. (AP file)
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Islamic Jihad Denies Withholding Body of Last Israeli Hostage

An Islamic Jihad member looks on as workers dig in search of the corpses of hostages in northern Gaza. (AP file)
An Islamic Jihad member looks on as workers dig in search of the corpses of hostages in northern Gaza. (AP file)

Palestinian sources dismissed Israeli claims circulating over the past two days that the Islamic Jihad movement is refusing to cooperate with Hamas by handing over what Israel says is the last body of an Israeli hostage in Gaza, a step Israel has linked to moving into the second phase of the ceasefire.

Israel’s Maariv newspaper reported on Friday, citing Israeli security sources, that tensions had emerged between Hamas and Islamic Jihad over the latter’s alleged refusal to hand over the body of the last hostage, Ran Gvili.

Israel believes Islamic Jihad fighters were directly involved in abducting Gvili and holding him in Gaza.

The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, said days ago it had handed over all hostages in its possession and had fully complied with the ceasefire agreement, a claim confirmed by sources in the movement speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat.

According to those sources, Gvili’s body was not among the Israeli hostages held by Islamic Jihad and was instead in Hamas’ custody. They said coordination with Hamas was excellent and denied any disagreements or tensions, dismissing Israeli media reports as unfounded.

Sources from Hamas told Asharq Al-Awsat the body was believed to be located in three or four sites in the Shujaiya and Zeitoun neighborhoods east of Gaza City. Search operations were carried out at those locations but failed to locate it.

They said all field commanders and activists involved in the abduction and in guarding the body had been killed in a series of airstrikes and other operations, making it difficult to determine the exact location with certainty.

They added that the difficulty was compounded by heavy bombardment, widespread destruction and land leveling in those areas during Israeli ground incursions.

According to Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Israel provided Hamas, via mediators, with information about individuals who might help identify the body’s location, as well as details on potential sites, accompanied by aerial photographs.

Hamas sources said there was ongoing communication with mediators on this issue and others.

New video raises doubts

These developments coincided with the Israeli Hostages and Missing Families Forum publishing video footage of six hostages whose bodies were found inside a tunnel in Rafah in August 2024.

The footage shows them sharing daily life, marking the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, celebrating the start of 2024, talking among themselves, shaving and moving from one place to another inside the tunnel.

The videos raised questions about the Israeli army’s claim that they were killed two days before being found, allegedly shot by Hamas fighters. Hamas has denied that account, saying they were killed in an Israeli strike that hit the site.

Israeli journalist Miki Levin wrote in a report on Maariv’s website that the six could have returned home alive had an agreement been reached earlier, in April last year, as senior members of the negotiating team had said.

She criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir for insisting on the notion of “total victory,” which she described as empty and unattainable.

She said the six would have been freed under a deal rejected by the Israeli government, which ignored warnings that an incursion into Rafah would lead to the hostages’ deaths.

According to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, negotiations with mediators days before their deaths were on the verge of collapse due to the Israeli government’s insistence on controlling the Philadelphi corridor. Five of the hostages were due to be released had an agreement been signed at that time.

These circumstances, Hamas sources said, likely prompted Israel to claim they were killed by Hamas gunfire.

The sources again denied that version, saying the hostages were killed in artillery and air strikes that hit the area and also killed several of their captors. They noted that captors had instructions at the time to kill any hostage if Israeli forces approached and posed a direct threat.

The tunnel was located in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood west of Rafah in southern Gaza. The Israeli army later acknowledged that investigations indicated the hostages were killed as a result of military pressure in the area.

In October 2024, Israel killed Yahya Sinwar, the former head of Hamas’ political bureau, in a house near the tunnel site in Tel al-Sultan, in what Israeli accounts described as a surprise encounter while he was with an armed group spotted moving inside the building.

Asharq Al-Awsat reported in November 2024, citing Hamas sources, that Ibrahim Sinwar, the son of Qassam Brigades commander Mohammed Sinwar, who was later killed in an Israeli strike, had been killed alongside his uncle in one of the Rafah tunnels.

The sources said Ibrahim Mohammed Sinwar was killed in an Israeli strike as he emerged from a tunnel opening to monitor Israeli troop movements, while accompanied by his uncle, in August that year in Rafah.

Assessments cited by Asharq Al-Awsat suggest the tunnel in question was the same one where the six hostages were held. Subsequent Israeli investigations said DNA evidence indicated Sinwar had been present there.

The hostages may in fact have been killed in the same strike that killed Ibrahim Sinwar, who had accompanied his uncle Yahya throughout the war, along with other armed fighters.

Hamas sources stressed that strict instructions had been in place regarding the treatment of Israeli hostages, including providing all necessary means to keep them alive and safeguard their lives.

Arab World

Gaza Civil Defense Says 13 Dead as Heavy Rains Batter Territory

Heavy machinery operates as Palestinians gather amid a search for victims in a destroyed house that collapsed due to heavy rains, in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, December 12, 2025. (Reuters)
Heavy machinery operates as Palestinians gather amid a search for victims in a destroyed house that collapsed due to heavy rains, in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, December 12, 2025. (Reuters)
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Gaza Civil Defense Says 13 Dead as Heavy Rains Batter Territory

Heavy machinery operates as Palestinians gather amid a search for victims in a destroyed house that collapsed due to heavy rains, in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, December 12, 2025. (Reuters)
Heavy machinery operates as Palestinians gather amid a search for victims in a destroyed house that collapsed due to heavy rains, in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, December 12, 2025. (Reuters)

Gaza's civil defense agency on Friday said at least 13 people had died in the last 24 hours, including three children who died from exposure to the cold, as a winter storm batters the territory.

Heavy rain from Storm Byron has flooded tents and temporary shelters across the Gaza Strip since late Wednesday, compounding the suffering of the territory's residents, nearly all of whom were displaced during more than two years of war.

Gaza's civil defense agency, which operates as a rescue force under Hamas authority, told AFP three children had died from exposure to the cold -- two in Gaza City and one in Khan Younis in the south.

Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City confirmed the deaths of Hadeel al-Masri, aged nine, and Taim al-Khawaja, who it said was just several months old.

Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis on Thursday said eight-month-old Rahaf Abu Jazar had died in the nearby tented encampment of Al-Mawasi due to the cold.

With most of Gaza's buildings destroyed or damaged, thousands of tents and homemade shelters now line areas cleared of rubble.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said six people died when a house collapsed in the Bir al-Naja area of the northern Gaza Strip.

Four others died when walls collapsed in multiple separate incidents, he said.

In a statement, the civil defense said its teams had responded to calls from "13 houses that collapsed due to heavy rains and strong winds, mostly in Gaza City and the north".

- No dry clothes -

Under gloomy skies in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, Palestinians used bowls, buckets and hoes to try and remove the water that had pooled around their tents made of plastic sheeting.

Young children, some barefoot and others wearing open sandals, trudged and hopped through ponds of muddy water as the rain continued to fall.

"The mattress has been soaked since this morning, and the children slept in wet bedding last night," Umm Muhammad Joudah told AFP.

"We don't have any dry clothes to change into."

Saif Ayman, a 17-year-old who was on crutches due to a leg injury, said his tent had also been submerged.

"In this tent we have no blankets. There are six of us sleeping on one mattress, and we cover ourselves with our clothes," he said.

The Hamas-run interior and national security ministry gave a preliminary toll of 14 dead due to the effects of the winter rains since Wednesday.

A ceasefire between Israel and group Hamas that took effect in October has partially eased restrictions on goods and aid entering into the Gaza Strip.

But supplies have entered in insufficient quantities, according to the United Nations, and the humanitarian needs are still immense.

The UN's World Health Organization warned on Friday that thousands of families were "sheltering in low-lying or debris-filled coastal areas with no drainage or protective barriers".

"Winter conditions, combined with poor water and sanitation, are expected to drive a surge in acute respiratory infections," it added.

Arab World

Israel Gives Legal Status to 19 West Bank Settlements, Media Reports

Israeli settlements seen from Bethlehem in the West Bank. (AFP file)
Israeli settlements seen from Bethlehem in the West Bank. (AFP file)
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Israel Gives Legal Status to 19 West Bank Settlements, Media Reports

Israeli settlements seen from Bethlehem in the West Bank. (AFP file)
Israeli settlements seen from Bethlehem in the West Bank. (AFP file)

Israel's cabinet has decided to give legal status to 19 settlements in the occupied West Bank, including two that were vacated 20 years ago under a pullout aimed at boosting the country's security and the economy, Israeli media reported.

The Palestinian Authority on Friday condemned the move, announced late on Thursday.

Some of the settlements are newly established, while others are older, Israeli media said.

The move to legalize the settlements in the West Bank -- territory Palestinians seek for a future state -- was proposed by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.

Most world powers deem Israel's settlements, on land it captured in a 1967 war, illegal. Numerous UN Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to halt all settlement activity.

Israel disputes this, saying it has historical and biblical ties to the land.

Construction of settlements -- including some built without official Israeli authorization -- has increased under Israel's far-right governing coalition, fragmenting the West Bank and cutting off Palestinian towns and cities from each other.

The 19 settlements include two that Israel withdrew from in 2005, evacuated under a disengagement plan overseen by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that focused mainly on Gaza.

Under the plan, which was opposed by the settler movement at the time, all 21 Israeli settlements in Gaza were ordered to be evacuated. Most settlements in the West Bank were unaffected.

In a statement on Friday, Palestinian Authority minister Mu’ayyad Sha’ban called the announcement another step to erase Palestinian geography.

Sha'ban, of the Palestinian Authority's Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, said the decision raised serious alarms over the future of the West Bank.

Home to 2.7 million Palestinians, the Israeli-occupied West Bank has long been at the heart of plans for a future Palestinian nation existing alongside Israel.

Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians reached their highest recorded levels in October with settlers carrying out at least 264 attacks, according to the United Nations.