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Egypt’s Sisi to Take Oath of Office for 3rd Term in New Capital on Tuesday

President Sisi casts his vote during the presidential elections in 2023. (AP)
President Sisi casts his vote during the presidential elections in 2023. (AP)
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Egypt’s Sisi to Take Oath of Office for 3rd Term in New Capital on Tuesday

President Sisi casts his vote during the presidential elections in 2023. (AP)
President Sisi casts his vote during the presidential elections in 2023. (AP)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will be sworn in for a third term during a ceremony in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) on Tuesday.

He will take the oath of office at parliament at its new building in the capital, where construction began in 2015.

An Egyptian security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Sisi will arrive at the new capital on Tuesday where he will hold a short meeting with the parliament speaker and other officials from the legislature before the ceremony.

Sisi was elected to a new term in December, winning 89.6% of the vote. Around 39.7 million Egyptians voted in the elections.

Sisi’s new six-year term will officially begin on April 3.

He was first elected president for four years in 2014. After a constitutional amendment, the presidential term was extended to six.

Managing Director and Board Chairman of the Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD) Company Khaled Abbas said holding the swearing in ceremony in the new capital will inaugurate the first phase of NAC.

In televised remarks on Saturday, he said state affairs will be managed from the new capital in the coming phase.

Sisi’s inauguration will be a celebration for the whole of Egypt, he added. The new capital is more than ready to hold the ceremony and other major events.

The new capital aims to ease pressure off Cairo. It covers 700 square kilometers and construction is being carried out over three phases. The first covers 168 kms, or around half the size of Cairo.

On whether the parliament will officially move its operations to the new capital, a parliamentary source said it is likely to keep its old headquarters in central Cairo.

He noted that the president will continue to use the Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo for official receptions, while the parliament may partially move its operations to the new capital.

Political science professor at Cairo University Dr. Mustafa Kamel al-Sayed told Asharq Al-Awsat that complete shift of state management to the new capital depends on the president and whether he will relocate there.

Some ministries and government agencies have already kicked off their operations there, he revealed.

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Arab World

Syria Deal Could Remove Main Obstacle to Türkiye -PKK Peace, Turkish Officials Say

A crossing at the Syrian-Turkish borders. (AFP)
A crossing at the Syrian-Turkish borders. (AFP)
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Syria Deal Could Remove Main Obstacle to Türkiye -PKK Peace, Turkish Officials Say

A crossing at the Syrian-Turkish borders. (AFP)
A crossing at the Syrian-Turkish borders. (AFP)

A deal under which Kurdish forces abandoned long-held ​territory in Syria to the Syrian government could pave the way for Türkiye to advance its stalled effort to end its decades-long conflict with the PKK, Turkish politicians and officials said on Monday.

After days of fighting, the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed on Sunday to bring Kurdish authorities under the control of Damascus. By Monday, SDF fighters had pulled out of swathes of territory which were now under control of the Syrian military.

Neighbour Türkiye has long considered the SDF ‌in Syria ‌to be an offshoot of the banned PKK, or ‌Kurdistan ⁠Workers ​Party, which decided ‌in May last year to disarm, disband and end its decades-long war against the Turkish state.

Turkish officials have long said that as long as the SDF controlled a swathe of territory across the border, it was difficult to end the war with the PKK. But now, with the SDF pulling out of two Syrian provinces, Turkish leaders see progress resuming.

 

EFFORTS TO DERAIL PEACE THWARTED, ERDOGAN'S PARTY SAYS

 

Omer Celik, spokesman for President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling ⁠AK Party, said Syrian government forces' recent advances had "thwarted" efforts by Kurdish groups to derail Türkiye's peace process.

Feti ‌Yildiz, a deputy leader of the government-allied Turkish nationalist MHP ‍party, said Sunday's agreement in Syria would ‍have "a favorable impact".

"Things will become easier," Yildiz told reporters in the Turkish parliament ‍when asked how the Syrian deal affects the PKK process. "It had been standing like an obstacle, and for now it looks as though that obstacle has been removed."

The PKK itself had yet to comment on the SDF's withdrawal as of Monday afternoon. Türkiye 's pro-Kurdish DEM ​Party, which has previously criticized the Syrian offensive against Kurdish forces, has also not yet reacted.

Turkish security sources, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, ⁠called the deal a historic turning point and said stability in Syria was vital to Ankara's goal of eradicating terrorism in Türkiye, where the PKK has fought an insurgency since 1984 in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.

Though the PKK symbolically burned weapons in July, the peace process has since shown little sign of progress: a months-long parliamentary commission has so far revealed no details on legal or reform measures.

Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, said the deal ended the Kurdish hope of retaining a large measure of autonomy and would benefit Turkey.

"Erdogan is undoubtedly rejoicing at the news, which will greatly weaken the PKK and ‌any lingering Kurdish aspiration for an independent Kurdistan. Syria will become stronger economically and militarily, and Türkiye will profit from this," Landis said on X.

 

 

 

 

 

Arab World

Yemen Humanitarian Crisis to Worsen in 2026 amid Funding Cuts, Says UN

Children wait for lunch at their hut in Sanaa, Yemen August 29, 2022 (Reuters)
Children wait for lunch at their hut in Sanaa, Yemen August 29, 2022 (Reuters)
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Yemen Humanitarian Crisis to Worsen in 2026 amid Funding Cuts, Says UN

Children wait for lunch at their hut in Sanaa, Yemen August 29, 2022 (Reuters)
Children wait for lunch at their hut in Sanaa, Yemen August 29, 2022 (Reuters)

The UN warned on Monday that the humanitarian situation in Yemen is worsening and that gains made to tackle malnutrition ​and health would go into reverse due to funding cuts.

"The context is very concerning... We are expecting things to be much worse in 2026," Julien Harneis, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, told reporters in Geneva.

Some 21 million people will need humanitarian assistance this year, an increase from ‌19.5 million the ‌previous year, according to the ‌UN. ⁠The ​situation ‌has been aggravated by economic collapse and disruption of essential services including health and education, and political uncertainty, Harneis said.

The US slashed its ⁠aid spending this year, and leading Western donors also pared back help ‌as they pivoted to raise defense ‍spending, triggering a funding ‍crunch for the UN.

Yemen has been the ‍focus of one of the world's largest humanitarian operations in a decade of civil war that disrupted food supplies.

"Children are dying and it's ⁠going to get worse," Harneis said. Food insecurity is projected to worsen across the country, with higher rates of malnutrition anticipated, he stated.

"For 10 years, the UN and humanitarian organizations were able to improve mortality and improve morbidity...this year, that's not going to be the case."

He said Yemen’s humanitarian crisis threatened the region with diseases like measles and polio that could cross borders.

In 2025 680 million dollars was afforded to ‌the UN in Yemen, about 28% of the intended target, Harneis said.

 

Arab World

Israeli Minister Smotrich Calls for US-led Center for Gaza to Be Shuttered

US and Israeli soldiers convene at the Civil Military Coordination Center, the US-led center overseeing the implementation of President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza, in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel November 17, 2025. REUTERS/Alexander Cornwell
US and Israeli soldiers convene at the Civil Military Coordination Center, the US-led center overseeing the implementation of President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza, in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel November 17, 2025. REUTERS/Alexander Cornwell
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Israeli Minister Smotrich Calls for US-led Center for Gaza to Be Shuttered

US and Israeli soldiers convene at the Civil Military Coordination Center, the US-led center overseeing the implementation of President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza, in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel November 17, 2025. REUTERS/Alexander Cornwell
US and Israeli soldiers convene at the Civil Military Coordination Center, the US-led center overseeing the implementation of President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza, in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel November 17, 2025. REUTERS/Alexander Cornwell

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to shut a US-led multinational coordinating center that supports President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war.

Washington established the Civil Military Coordination Center (CMCC) last October as a center for civilian and military personnel from other countries to work alongside US and Israeli officials on post-war Gaza planning.

"The time has come to dismantle the headquarters in Kiryat Gat," said Smotrich, the far-right cabinet minister, in remarks shared by his office to media, referring to the Israeli city northeast of Gaza where the center is based.

The Israeli prime minister's office, the US State Department ‌and the US ‌military's Central Command did not immediately respond to requests ‌for ⁠comment on the ‌remarks.

Smotrich also said that Britain, Egypt and other countries that are "hostile to Israel and undermine its security" should be removed from the CMCC. The British and Egyptian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Central Command in December said that 60 countries and organizations were represented at the center. The CMCC has also been tasked with facilitating humanitarian aid entering Gaza.

The US-led CMCC was established after Trump announced his 20-point plan to end the war. Germany, ⁠France, and Canada are also among countries that have sent personnel there.

Smotrich, speaking at an event marking the ‌establishment of a new Jewish settlement in the Israeli-occupied West ‍Bank, said that Hamas should be given ‍a "very short" ultimatum to disarm and go into exile, and once that ultimatum expires, ‍the military should storm Gaza with "full force" to destroy the militant group.

"Mr. Prime Minister, it's either us or them. Either full Israeli control, the destruction of Hamas, and the continued long-term suppression of terrorism, encouragement of the enemy's emigration outward and permanent Israeli settlement," he said.

The plan, announced by Trump in September, states that members of Hamas who commit to peaceful coexistence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Those who want to leave ⁠Gaza will be given safe passage to other countries.

The White House last week announced that the president's plan to end the war was moving to the second phase, which would include the demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza.

Under the initial phase of the plan, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza that went into effect in October.

Hamas also released the remaining living hostages abducted from Israel during the October 2023 attack, who had been held in Gaza since then. The remains of all but one deceased hostage have been handed over as well.

Since the ceasefire started, Israel has repeatedly carried out air strikes in Gaza which it has said were responding to or fending off attacks carried out by Palestinian militants.

Over ‌460 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect.