JEDDAH: Arab and Muslim countries joined Saudi Arabia Sunday to condemn the twin bombings of Coptic churches in Egypt that left at least 40 people dead and scores wounded just one week before Coptic Easter and the same month that Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Egypt.
The blasts occurred at Margarges Church in Tanta and near St. Mark’s Church in Alexandria, northern Egypt. Daesh has claimed responsibility.
An official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that King Salman sent a letter to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi saying: “We express our deep condemnation and condemnation of these two criminal acts,” according to Saudi Press Agency.
It added: “We affirm Saudi Arabia’s stand with the Arab Republic of Egypt and its brotherly people against anyone who tries to undermine its security. And to the families of the brotherly Arab Republic of Egypt and to the families of the victims on behalf of the people and the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and on our behalf, our sincere condolences and sincere condolences. We wish their families patience and solace and wish the injured a speedy recovery.”
King Abdallah II of Jordan sent a cable to El-Sisi denouncing the attack as “cowardly” and voicing Jordan’s solidarity and support with Egypt in fighting terrorism and preserving its stability.
Turkey also condemned Sunday’s attacks on churches in Egypt.
“We strongly condemn the heinous terror attacks on churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday today,” presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said.
Mehmet Gormez, the head of religious affairs in Turkey, “cursed” the attacks and said they are the shared problem of all humanity.
“The immunity of a place of worship, no matter the religion it belongs to, cannot be violated and the bloodthirsty killing of innocent worshippers cannot ever be forgiven,” Gormez said in an official statement.
Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also published a statement denouncing the attack.
“We convey our condolences to the bereaved families and the whole people of Egypt,” the statement said before a second attack hit an Alexandria church, killing at least 11 people.
Gaza’s Hamas said in a statement that the attack was “a crime.”
Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said, “Hamas wishes safety, security, stability and prosperity for Egypt and its people.”
Joining the growing list of Muslim countries protesting the attack, Oman’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a tweet, expressed its solidarity with Egypt and also wished a speedy recovery for the injured.
The UAE offered its full solidarity with Egypt in its efforts to eliminate criminal and terrorist elements that are wreaking havoc and targeting the lives of innocent citizens, according to UAE News Agency, WAM.
In addition, Yousef A. Al-Othaimeen, secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) conveyed his condolences to the families of the victims and to the government and people of Egypt in general, wishing the wounded speedy recovery.
Al-Othaimeen also reaffirmed the OIC’s principled and resolute position against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
The Kuwait News Agency reported that Kuwaiti National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim sent a cable to his Egyptian counterpart, Ali Abdulal. He said, “We condemn this criminal heinous blast, and we reiterate our full solidarity with Egypt.”
According to the Bahrain News Agency, the Kingdom’s Foreign Minister, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa, said Bahrain supported measures to deter terrorism to maintain security and stability and the attacks “will never succeed in undermining the unity and steadfastness of Egyptian society, and reiterated Bahrain’s firm position, which rejects violence, extremism and terrorism.”
Egypt bombings: Muslim countries lead chorus of condemnation
Egypt bombings: Muslim countries lead chorus of condemnation
UN Security Council members blast Israel’s West Bank plans on eve of Trump’s Board of Peace meeting
- Pakistan denounced Israel’s contentious West Bank settlement project during the meeting as a “clear violation of international law”
- Pakistan is the only country on the 15-member council that also accepted an invitation to join US President Trump's Board of Peace
UNITED NATIONS: Members of the United Nations Security Council called Wednesday for the Gaza ceasefire deal to become permanent and blasted Israeli efforts to expand control in the West Bank as a threat to prospects of a two-state solution, coming on the eve of President Donald Trump’s first Board of Peace gathering to discuss the future of the Palestinian territories.
The high-level UN session in New York was originally scheduled for Thursday but was moved up after Trump announced the board’s meeting for the same day and it became clear that it would complicate travel plans for diplomats planning to attend both. It is a sign of the potential for overlapping and conflicting agendas between the United Nations’ most powerful body and Trump’s new initiative, whose broader ambitions to broker global conflicts have raised concerns in some countries that it may attempt to rival the UN Security Council.
Pakistan, the only country on the 15-member council that also accepted an invitation to join the Board of Peace, denounced Israel’s contentious West Bank settlement project during the meeting as “null and void” and said it constitutes a “clear violation of international law.”
“Israel’s recent illegal decisions to expand its control over the West Bank are gravely disturbing,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said.
The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Indonesia also attended the Security Council’s monthly Mideast meeting after many Arab and Islamic countries requested last week that it discuss Gaza and the West Bank before some of them head to Washington.
“Annexation is a breach of the UN Charter and of the most fundamental rules of international law,” Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour said. “It is a breach of President Trump’s plan, and constitutes an existential threat to ongoing peace efforts.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that attention was not on the UN session and that the focus of the international world would be on the Board of Peace meeting.
Saar also accused the council of being “infected with an anti-Israeli obsession” and insisted that no nation has a stronger right than its “historical and documented right to the land of the Bible.”
Bigger ambitions for the Board of Peace
The board to be chaired by Trump was originally envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing his 20-point plan for Gaza’s future. But the Republican president’s new vision for the board to be a mediator of worldwide conflicts has led to skepticism from major allies.
While more than 20 countries have so far accepted an invitation to join the board, close US partners, including France, Germany and others, have opted not to join yet and renewed support for the UN, which also is in the throes of major reforms and funding cuts.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said there is an opportunity for the UN’s most powerful body to help build “a better future” for Israelis and Palestinians despite the “cycle of violence and suffering” over the more than two-year war between Israel and Hamas.
“Gaza must not get stuck in a no man’s land between peace and war,” Cooper said as she opened the meeting.
Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, appeared to criticize countries that had not yet signed on to the Board of Peace, saying that unlike the Security Council, the board is “not talking, it is doing.”
“We are hearing the chattering class criticizing the structure of the board, that it’s unconventional, that it’s unprecedented,” Waltz said Wednesday. “Again, the old ways were not working.”
The Security Council is meeting a day after nearly all of its 15 members — minus the United States — and dozens of other diplomats joined Palestinian ambassador Mansour as he read a statement on behalf of 80 countries and several organizations condemning Israel’s latest actions in the West Bank, demanding an immediate reversal and underlining “strong opposition to any form of annexation.”
In the last several weeks, Israel has launched a contentious land regulation process that will deepen its control in the occupied West Bank. Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said it amounts to “de facto sovereignty” that will block the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Outraged Palestinians, Arab countries and human rights groups have called the moves an illegal annexation of the territory, home to roughly 3.4 million Palestinians who seek it for a future state.
‘A pivotal moment in the Middle East’
The UN meeting also delved into the US-brokered ceasefire deal that took effect Oct. 10. UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo and Israeli and Palestinian civil society representatives gave briefings for the first time since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that launched the war.
Hiba Qasas, a Palestinian who is founding executive director of Geneva-based Principles for Peace Foundation, and Nadav Tamir, a former Israeli diplomat who is executive director of J Street Israel, both said they represent a strong coalition of Israelis and Palestinians who believe the only way to end the conflict is through a two-state solution.
“Israel cannot remain the democratic homeland of the Jewish people if Palestinians are denied a homeland of their own. Our futures are interdependent,” Tamir said.
DiCarlo of the UN said this is “a pivotal moment in the Middle East” that opens the possibility for the region to move in a new direction. “But that opening is neither assured nor indefinite,” she said, and whether it will be sustained depends on decisions in the coming weeks.
“The Board of Peace meeting in Washington, D.C., tomorrow is an important step,” she said.
Aspects of the ceasefire deal have moved forward, including Hamas releasing all the hostages it was holding and increased amounts of humanitarian aid getting into Gaza, though the UN says the level is insufficient. A new technocratic committee has been appointed to administer Gaza’s daily affairs.
But the most challenging steps lie ahead, including the deployment of an international security force, disarming Hamas and rebuilding Gaza.
Trump said this week that the Board of Peace members have pledged $5 billion toward Gaza reconstruction and will commit thousands of personnel to international stabilization and police forces for the territory. He didn’t provide details. Indonesia’s military says up to 8,000 of its troops are expected to be ready by the end of June for a potential deployment to Gaza as part of a humanitarian and peace mission.
