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2023-10-12 09:47:38

Intensive Egyptian communications and movements continue to prevent a “mass exodus” from the Gaza Strip to the Sinai Peninsula, while the repeated Israeli bombing of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing caused the closure of the only exit port from the Strip, amid American media reports that US President Joe Biden discussed during a conversation between him Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated work to evacuate a number of Palestinians in Gaza to Egypt, and those reports said that the White House “is discussing this step with other countries to begin this procedure.”

Archyde.com (Wednesday) quoted what it described as two Egyptian security sources as saying that the Israeli attack on Gaza “raises concerns from Cairo, which called on Israel to open a safe corridor for civilians to leave the Gaza Strip instead of encouraging them to flee towards Sinai.”

On Tuesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi described the current escalation between Israel and the Palestinians as “extremely dangerous” and has repercussions that may affect the security and stability of the region. He added that his country “will not allow the Palestinian issue to be liquidated at the expense of other parties,” in a clear reference to the danger of pushing the Palestinians into Sinai.

Destruction in Gaza as a result of Israeli raids (AFP)

According to American reports, Washington is working in coordination with Israel and Egypt to open a “humanitarian corridor designated for the exit of Palestinians and American citizens from the Gaza Strip to Egypt.”

This information was also received by the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Herzog, who said: “I cannot speak on behalf of the Egyptians, but I am sure they will allow this.”

US National Security Advisor Jack Sullivan confirmed this information but refused to give any details.

As Israel continues to tighten its siege on the Gaza Strip, and prevents any attempt to open safe corridors for the entry of relief and life aid to the Strip’s population of more than two million people, fears are increasing of a repeat of the scene of 2008, when thousands of Palestinians invaded the border with Egypt, and the Egyptian authorities then allowed them to stay. In Sinai for several weeks, to provide for their needs before returning them to the Strip.

For his part, the Chairman of the Defense and National Security Committee of the Egyptian House of Representatives (the first chamber of Parliament), Ahmed Al-Awadi, confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that Egyptian support for the Palestinian people is “absolute and unlimited, officially and popularly,” but he added at the same time that “that support does not contradict “With Egypt’s insistence on protecting its sovereignty and national security once morest any attempt to target.”

Al-Awadi pointed out that re-raising the issue of displacing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and pushing them to migrate to Egyptian lands in any way is “a completely unacceptable issue, because it represents the liquidation of the Palestinian cause.” Al-Awadi noted the statements that he described as “decisive” by the Egyptian President regarding protecting Egyptian national security and preserving the constants of the Palestinian issue by not emptying the Gaza Strip of its population, noting in this regard that the Egyptian moves were “proactive” when Egypt provided a grant worth 500 million. Dollars for the reconstruction of the Strip in 2021, and Egyptian companies have implemented many development projects to support and support the people of Gaza.

High-ranking Egyptian security sources had previously warned, through statements to Egyptian media, of an attempt to push the Palestinians in Gaza to flee towards the Egyptian border as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombing of the Strip. The sources said that “Egyptian sovereignty is not permissible.”

The former Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister and member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, Rakha Ahmed Hassan, considered that the one being addressed in the issue of safe passages “is Israel and not any other country,” noting that the Israeli occupation forces’ deliberate bombing of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing “represents a clear message to be carefully considered.” In suffocating and besieging the Gaza Strip, and blocking any attempt to open humanitarian corridors to support the residents of the Strip following Egypt succeeded in bringing in trucks carrying food and medicine.

Hassan added to Asharq Al-Awsat that what happened in 2008, with thousands of Palestinians entering Egyptian territory and supplying their needs with the approval of the Egyptian authorities, “was a different matter,” noting that what he described as “the current state of Israeli obsession and the frenzied strikes on the residents of the Gaza Strip are trying to impose a new reality that cannot be “It can be accepted.”

He pointed to what he described as the “shameful negligence” on the part of Western officials, led by the figures of the American administration, who refuse to merely pressure Israel to respond to efforts to open safe corridors and paths for relief aid, expressing his hope that the upcoming visit of the US Secretary of State to the region will contribute to “resolving the situation.” “Towards some sort of breakthrough.”

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#American #insistence #exchange #Egyptian #warning #pushing #residents #Gaza #Sinai

2023-10-12 09:07:00

Russia increased its revenues from oil exports by $1.8 billion in September. This became known from the report of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

“Russia’s revenues from oil exports increased by $1.8 billion in September,” it says in the report. It is noted that Russia’s daily oil exports increased by 460 thousand barrels, reaching 7.6 million barrels. Oil export revenue totaled $18.8 billion, the highest since July 2022.

This increase in income is explained by an increase in export volumes and an increase in prices for Russian oil and petroleum products. Compared to last year, export revenue remained $2.6 billion lower. China and India continue to be the largest buyers of Russian oil, the report concluded.

In the first five months of this year, Russia significantly increased export volume oil to India. Russian oil supplies from January-May 2023 increased 11 times compared to the same period last year, reaching a volume of 37 million tons. Russian oil supplies to Brazil also resumed following a two-year break. In September, the maximum export volume in 13 years was reached – 84.4 thousand tons. Brazil paid $48 million for the supply, reports TV channel 360.

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#Russia #doubled #oil #export #revenue #September

2023-10-12 07:25:09

Belgium undertakes to deliver F16s to Ukraine. Well, if all goes well. Surprise decision announced yesterday for the arrival, also surprise, of Volodymyr Zelensky in Brussels. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo had to hide the divisions in his coalition.

A hug

Yes, for any Western leader, receiving a hug from Volodymyr Zelensky is a form of medal, promotion, publicity. Volodymyr Zelensky embodies the courage of Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion. He has enormous power of influence, and he has used it very intelligently since the start of the war to obtain support for Ukraine.

To organize a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit, Alexander De Croo had to be able to announce something other than the support shown, so far, by Belgium. Support which is in the low average of Western countries, like Hungary, Italy or France, far behind Germany, the Netherlands or Denmark.

A turnaround

This new feature is therefore the sending of F16s to Ukraine, contrary to what has been announced so far. But Alexander De Croo had difficulty hiding the conditions associated with this decision.

Two conditions, at least, will be essential. First, the F35 will have to be delivered on time. We are talking regarding May 2024 for the first planes, but they will remain in the United States for months for pilot training. They will arrive in operational capacity sometime in 2025, at which point, if any F16s are still serviceable, they can be donated. We are talking regarding 2 to 4 devices.

The other condition is that the decision will come back to the next government. This is when things will have to be decided. This is democracy, says Alexander De Croo. He forgets to say that it is very common for a government to commit another government with a decision. The current government might have engaged Belgium and formally made the decision, even if it were invalidated by the next one. He mightn’t do it. He was only able to agree, between the right wing and left wing, on a non-binding promise to deliver F16s.

The statement from the Minister of Defense said: “from 2025, Defense may offer to supply F-16s to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as part of the process of replacing the Belgian F-16 fleet with F-35 fighter jets.“The defense may offer to provide. This is the true nature of our promise.

We will note the opportunistic 180° change in the position of the socialist minister who until now said that it was not possible.

We will also note the equally opportunistic communication from the MR which says that it is thanks to his pressure that the minister changed her mind, while the decision was mainly played out elsewhere, in the diplomatic pressure of the allies.

A rise in power

That said, even though there is a lot of communication, this promise on the F16 is important. Firstly because it is hard to imagine a future government suddenly refusing to deliver available F16s if Ukraine is unfortunately still at war. And even if it is no longer, it will need Western support for its fleet of fighter planes. For Belgium, this is indeed an escalation in its commitment to Ukraine.

The other announcement, less spectacular, but just as important, is the announcement of a fund of nearly 1.7 billion euros resulting from the taxation of frozen Russian assets. It is also the announcement that the Belgian industry Sabena Engineering, in particular, will take charge of the maintenance of the F16s given by the Danes, the Norwegians and the Dutch to the Ukrainians. We often forget it, but Belgium has the largest European F16 maintenance center in Europe in Charleroi. Because in the 1970s, Belgium not only bought F16s but also negotiated the assembly of planes for other countries. We assembled a total of 222 F16s and modernized 1200 of them. The contract of the century has beautiful remains.

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#Tight #turn #Belgian #F16s #Ukraine