CAIRO: US President Joe Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi discussed negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza on Tuesday and agreed to remain in close coordination in the coming hours, the White House said.
Negotiators were trying on Tuesday to clinch agreement on the final details of a ceasefire in Gaza after marathon talks in Qatar, with the involved parties saying a deal was closer than ever. Both Egypt and the US are mediators in the talks.
Democrat Biden, whose administration has been taking part alongside an envoy of Republican President-elect Donald Trump, has said a deal was close.
“Both leaders committed to remain in close coordination directly and through their teams over the coming hours,” the White House said in a statement after the call between Biden and El-Sisi.
“Both leaders emphasized the urgent need for a deal to be implemented,” the White House added.
Ceasefire talks have previously faced hurdles.
The White House said the two leaders also discussed surging humanitarian aid in Gaza where Israel’s military assault in the last 15 months has killed over 46,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, while also triggering accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies.
The assault has also displaced nearly Gaza’s entire 2.3 million population and caused a hunger crisis.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023 , when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli allies.
Egypt’s El-Sisi, Biden discuss Gaza ceasefire, hostages-for-prisoners swap deal, Egypt presidency says
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Egypt’s El-Sisi, Biden discuss Gaza ceasefire, hostages-for-prisoners swap deal, Egypt presidency says

- They also discussed a hostages-for-prisoners exchange deal
UAE’s highest court approves extraditing notorious trafficker Mehdi Charafa to France

- Charafa appealed the decision to the Federal Supreme Court, which dismissed his appeal and upheld the extradition
- The accused is described as “a notoriously wanted narco bandit” by France’s Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin
ABU DHABI: The UAE’s highest court has approved an extradition request lodged by the French authorities to repatriate Frenchman Mehdi Charafa, a notorious drug trafficker, the Emirates News Agency reported on Friday.
The UAE Federal Supreme Court has approved the extradition of Charafa to the authorities in France following an extradition request filed with the UAE government on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering, WAM’s report said.
After the completion of all relevant legal procedures by the accused and in alignment with the extradition treaty signed between both countries on May 2, 2007, the court made its decision to repatriate Charafa.
The Abu Dhabi Federal Appeal Court issued a decision approving the accused’s extradition. Consequently, Charafa appealed the decision to the Federal Supreme Court, which dismissed his appeal and upheld the extradition on Jan. 14, 2025.
WAM said that the procedures reflected the UAE’s commitment to continued collaboration with international partners in the pursuit of international justice.
According to The Pinnacle Gazette, on Jan. 23 France’s Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin announced that the UAE had accepted the extradition of an individual (without naming Charafa) wanted by France, during a visit to Agen, Lot-et-Garonne while inspecting the National School for Prison Administration.
Charafa is described as “a notoriously wanted narco bandit” by Darmanin, particularly pursued by the Interregional Specialized Jurisdiction of Bordeaux, which focuses on organized crime.
The nature of his criminal activities includes the use of the “go-fast” methodology — a high-speed transport method commonly employed by drug traffickers to evade law enforcement.
The extradition agreement with France is one of more than 45 agreements signed in recent years with several countries, with the UAE committed to pursuing further accords, WAM reported.
These agreements demonstrate the keenness of the UAE to enhance cooperation in legal and judicial matters according to the best international practices in this field, aiming to reinforce efforts that combat global crimes.
France confident Lebanon can form government representing the country’s diversity

- The spokesman said that France hopes the Lebanese prime minister will find a formula to resolve the impasse
PARIS: France has full confidence that Lebanese authorities can form a government that can bring together the Lebanese people in all their diversity, a French foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday.
Asked about US red lines over Hezbollah’s presence in the Lebanese government, he said that France hopes the Lebanese prime minister will find a formula to resolve the impasse.
The United States has set a “red line” that Shiite armed group Hezbollah should not be a member of Lebanon’s next government after its military defeat by Israel last year, USdeputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus said in Lebanon on Friday.
Israeli victims will continue to work with ICC after US sanctions, says lawyer

- Israeli families want to continue engaging with it as part of efforts to seek justice, said lawyer Yael Vias Gvirsman
- “Victims are ever more committed to have direct contact with the court and to pursue the justice they deserve“
THE HAGUE: Israeli victims of the Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war will still work with the International Criminal Court even after US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the tribunal, a lawyer for victims and victims’ families said on Friday.
The sanctions are in retaliation for the court’s issuing of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant, who are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
The ICC’s prosecutor is also investigating the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Prosecutors sought arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders for the crimes, but they were all killed in the past 16 months of war in Gaza, according to Israel and Hamas.
While sanctions will complicate dealings with the ICC, the Israeli families want to continue engaging with it as part of efforts to seek justice, said Yael Vias Gvirsman, a lawyer who represents over 350 victims and families of victims.
“Sanctions could complicate the communications channels between Israeli citizens and the court, but victims are ever more committed to have direct contact with the court and to pursue the justice they deserve,” Gvirsman said in an interview with Reuters.
The Gaza conflict has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians since October 2023, the Gaza health ministry says.
The US sanctions, which focus on punishing the court for investigating Israeli officials, can also affect the prosecution’s probe into crimes committed by Hamas, says Vias Gvirsman.
“It will be a dilemma for the court how to engage with Israeli citizens and assess if contact with the court endangers them,” she said.
US has set ‘red line’ that Hezbollah not join Lebanese govt, envoy says

- Morgan Ortagus first senior US official to visit Lebanon since US President Donald Trump took office
Beirut: The United States has set a “red line” that Shiite armed group Hezbollah should not be a member of Lebanon’s next government after its military defeat by Israel last year, US deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus said in Lebanon on Friday.
Ortagus is the first senior US official to visit Lebanon since US President Donald Trump took office and since Joseph Aoun was elected president in Lebanon.
Her visit comes amid a stalled cabinet formation process in Lebanon, where government posts are apportioned on sectarian lines. Hezbollah’s ally Amal has insisted on approving all Shiite Muslim ministers, keeping the process in deadlock.
Speaking to reporters after meeting President Aoun, Ortagus said she was “not afraid” of Iran-backed Hezbollah “because they’ve been defeated militarily,” referring to last year’s war between the group and Israel.
“And we have set clear red lines from the United States that they won’t be able to terrorize the Lebanese people, and that includes by being a part of the government,” she said.
Ortagus had been widely expected to deliver a tough message to Lebanese officials about Hezbollah, which was battered by months of Israeli air strikes and ground operations in southern Lebanon last year.
Fighting ended in late November with a ceasefire brokered by the United States and France that set a deadline of 60 days for Israel to withdraw from south Lebanon, Hezbollah to pull out its fighters and arms and Lebanese troops to deploy to the area.
That deadline was extended to Feb. 18. Ortagus referred to the new date on Friday but did not explicitly say the Israeli army (IDF) would withdraw from Lebanese territory.
“February 18 will be the date for redeployment, when the IDF troops will finish their redeployment, and of course, the (Lebanese) troops will come in behind them, so we are very committed to that firm date,” she said.
Ortagus is expected to meet Lebanese prime minister-designate Nawaf Salam, Lebanon’s parliament speaker Nabih Berri — who also heads Amal — and make a trip to southern Lebanon with the Lebanese army
Al-Qaeda in Yemen says senior official killed in blast

- Abu Yusuf Al-Muhammadi Al-Hadrami died when a motorcycle packed with explosives detonated near where he worked in Marib
Dubai: A senior member of Al-Qaeda in Yemen has been killed in a bomb blast, according to a statement from the extremist group behind a string of high-profile attacks.
Abu Yusuf Al-Muhammadi Al-Hadrami died when a motorcycle packed with explosives detonated near where he worked in Marib, east of the rebel-held capital Sanaa.
Washington regards the group, known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), as most dangerous branch of group
Born in 2009, AQAP grew and developed in the chaos of Yemen’s war.
It has been responsible for multiple attacks, including the deadly 2000 bombing of the USS Cole off the coast of Aden, which killed 17 US military personnel.
In 2015, AQAP claimed that two French gunmen who massacred 12 people in an attack on the Paris offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine were acting on its behalf.