Egyptian President Says Palestinian Cause Remains Top Priorityhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5232045-egyptian-president-says-palestinian-cause-remains-top-priority
Egyptian President Says Palestinian Cause Remains Top Priority
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi delivers a speech during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2026. (AFP)
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Egyptian President Says Palestinian Cause Remains Top Priority
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi delivers a speech during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2026. (AFP)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday said the Palestinian cause is still “at the forefront of priorities” in the Middle East.
He told a panel at Davos that resolving Palestinian cause “is the core of regional stability, and a cornerstone to achieve a just and comprehensive peace.”
The Egyptian leader lauded US President Donald Trump’s efforts to help reach a ceasefire that stropped the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in October.
The two leaders are expected to meet at Davos, said the Egyptian Presidency on Tuesday.
This will be the first meeting between the two leaders since the US announced it was launching the second phase of its plan to end the war in Gaza.
Sisi and Trump met in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in October during a summit convened by Egypt to sign a ceasefire deal aimed at ending the war.
An oil tanker burns after being hit by an Iranian strike in the ship-to-ship transfer zone at Khor al-Zubair port near Basra, Iraq, late Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo)
51 Crew Rescued, 1 Dead after Attack on Tankers Off Iraq
An oil tanker burns after being hit by an Iranian strike in the ship-to-ship transfer zone at Khor al-Zubair port near Basra, Iraq, late Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo)
More than 50 crew members were rescued after an attack on two oil tankers in Iraq's territorial waters, Farhan al-Fartousi of the port authorities told AFP.
Fartousi, from Iraq's General Company for Ports, said "all crew members of the two tankers were rescued," adding that the 51 workers were in good condition.
The attack killed at least one crew member, an Indian national.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Thursday they had struck a Marshall Islands-flagged ship, which they claimed was US-owned, in the north of the Gulf.
The vessel, Safesea Vishnu, came under attack March 11 while operating near Basra, India’s embassy said.
The remaining 15 Indian crew members were evacuated and are safe, the embassy added.
Israel Orders Army to Prepare for 'Expanding' Lebanon Operationshttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5250405-israel-orders-army-prepare-expanding-lebanon-operations
A man stands by the rubble of a destroyed building in the aftermath of overnight Israeli airstrikes in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)
Israel Orders Army to Prepare for 'Expanding' Lebanon Operations
A man stands by the rubble of a destroyed building in the aftermath of overnight Israeli airstrikes in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that he had ordered the military to prepare for expanding operations in Lebanon after Hezbollah fired a heavy barrage of rockets at Israel overnight.
"The Prime Minister and I have instructed the IDF to prepare for expanding IDF operations in Lebanon and for restoring quiet and security to the northern communities," Katz was quoted as saying in a statement.
"I warned the President of Lebanon that if the Lebanese government does not know how to control the territory and prevent Hezbollah from threatening northern communities and firing toward Israel -- we will take the territory and do it ourselves," Katz said in a situation assessment, according to the statement from his ministry.
A man walks over blood stains, in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in Ramlet al-Bayda at Corniche Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon, March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Claudia Greco
An Israeli strike hit a car Thursday in Ramlet al-Bayda, a major seaside tourist area of Beirut where dozens of displaced people have been sheltering. Eight people were killed and 31 others were wounded, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.
In Aramoun, a town about 10 kilometers south of Beirut, another three people were killed and a child was wounded in another early Israeli attack.
At least 634 people have been killed in Lebanon since the latest fighting began, the Health Ministry said.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.
Hezbollah launched some 200 rockets at Israel’s north and deeper into the country overnight, the Israeli military says.
Many rockets were intercepted and no serious injuries were reported.
Strikes Kill Nine Iran-backed Fighters near Iraq-Syria Borderhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5250401-strikes-kill-nine-iran-backed-fighters-near-iraq-syria-border
Strikes Kill Nine Iran-backed Fighters near Iraq-Syria Border
Fighters raise the "Hashed" logo during military exercises (Archival - Popular Mobilization Forces)
Air strikes killed at least nine Iran-backed fighters in Iraq on Thursday near the Iraqi-Syrian border, two senior security officials told AFP.
Another 10 fighters were wounded in the strikes that targeted a base belonging to the US-blacklisted Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, the officials added on condition of anonymity, with one saying that the death toll could rise.
"The base was destroyed, and the rescue teams who arrived at the site were also targeted," one of the officials said.
He added that it remained unclear who was behind the attack. But the Iran-backed faction said in a statement that a "Zionist-American aggression" targeted their fighters, though it did not provide a death toll.
Iraq has long been a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran, with the country's successive governments struggling to balance relations between the two rivals.
After decades of conflicts, it had recently regained some stability, but it remains volatile with increasingly influential armed groups operating outside the state's control.
Iraq was immediately dragged into the Middle East war triggered when the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
The base that was hit on Thursday belongs to the Hashed al-Shaabi or the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a former paramilitary group now integrated into the regular army.
The Hashed also encompasses brigades from Iran-backed groups, which have been repeatedly targeted in attacks blamed on the United States and Israel since the start of the war.
The contingent on the base is made up of members of Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya.
Iraq's national security advisor Qassem al-Araji mourned in a post on X dozens "of martyrs and wounded" from the Hashed forces in what he described as a "terrorist attack".
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