WASHINGTON: Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday that Arab states support Palestinians in rejecting US President Donald Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians in Gaza and take control of the enclave.
In a statement, Egypt’s foreign ministry said Abdelatty, in a meeting in Washington, stressed the importance of expediting Gaza’s reconstruction while Palestinians remain there.
Abdelatty, who arrived in Washington on Sunday, said he was looking forward to working with the new US administration to achieve “comprehensive and just peace and stability” in the region, according to the statement.
Any suggestion that Palestinians leave Gaza, which they want as part of an independent state, has been anathema to the Palestinian leadership for generations and neighboring Arab states have rejected it since the Gaza war began in 2023.
Egypt’s foreign ministry said on Monday that the international community should unify behind Palestinians to right “historic injustice” and restore their “legitimate and inalienable rights.”
Trump’s plan has received global condemnation, with regional and global leaders saying such a move would threaten regional stability.
He said in excerpts from a Fox News interview on Monday that Palestinians would not have the right of return to Gaza under his proposal.
Arab states reject Trump plan for Gaza, Egypt FM tells Rubio
https://arab.news/vj6r5
Arab states reject Trump plan for Gaza, Egypt FM tells Rubio
- Egypt’s foreign ministry said on Monday that the international community should unify behind Palestinians to right “historic injustice”
Turkiye seals preliminary deals for largest foreign-funded railway project
- The funding will support the 125 km (78 mile) long Northern Ring Railway Project, which will carry passengers and freight from Gebze to Halkali via the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge connecting Istanbul’s two main airports
ISTANBUL: Turkiye has reached preliminary agreements with six international lenders to secure $6.75 billion for a new railway line across the Bosphorus in what would be Turkiye’s largest foreign-financed railway project, Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said on Tuesday.
Once completed, the line that will pass through north Istanbul is expected to carry 33 million passengers and 30 million tons of freight annually, he said, adding that it will open “a new era in logistics” by boosting the country’s rail capacity between Asia and Europe.
The funding will support the 125 km (78 mile) long Northern Ring Railway Project, which will carry passengers and freight from Gebze to Halkali via the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge connecting Istanbul’s two main airports.
Preliminary deals were reached with the World Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, OPEC Fund for International Development and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the minister said.
“We aim to complete the tender process and hand over the site this year so that (construction) work can start,” Uraloglu said.
An uninterrupted rail freight across the Bosphorus Strait is currently possible through the Marmaray railway tunnel and only during limited hours daily. According to the ministry’s website, a total of just 1.7 million tons of cargo were transported through Marmaray between 2020 and October 2025.
