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US grants Egypt $1.3bn in military aid citing Gaza peace efforts
The US government is overriding human rights concerns by providing $1.3bn in military aid to Egypt, a State Department spokesperson says.
The announcement comes as Washington has relied heavily on Cairo – a longstanding US ally – to mediate so far unsuccessful talks between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire deal to end the bloody war on Gaza.
“This decision is important to advancing regional peace and Egypt’s specific and ongoing contributions to US national security priorities, particularly to finalize a ceasefire agreement for Gaza, bring the hostages home, surge humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in need, and help bring an enduring end to the Israel-Hamas conflict,” the spokesperson said.
Buying Egypt off to stop their demands for Israeli withdrawal from the Philadelphi corridor...
More details on CNN
https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/11/politics/us-will-not-will-not-restrict-military-funding-egypt/index.html
Egypt has been accused of sweeping human rights violations under President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, but Cairo has been a key negotiator in the discussions about Gaza – a fact the spokesperson referenced in explaining the administration’s decision to fully provide the funding.
“This decision is important to advancing regional peace and Egypt’s specific and ongoing contributions to U.S. national security priorities, particularly to finalize a ceasefire agreement for Gaza, bring the hostages home, surge humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in need, and help bring an enduring end to the Israel-Hamas conflict. This decision also reflects Egypt’s crucial role in promoting a ceasefire in Sudan, and its instrumental efforts to get humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people,” they said.
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Still, the determination comes despite the State Department’s most recent human rights report – covering the year 2023 – which found that “there were no significant changes in the human rights situation in Egypt during the year.”
The report noted “reports of significant numbers of political prisoners and detainees,” adding that “humanitarian groups were not permitted access to political prisoners or detention centers.”
Israel won’t abandon ‘security’ corridor dividing Gaza
Hamas says its negotiation team, led by senior official Khalil al-Hayya, met Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel to discuss the latest developments in Gaza.
A current ceasefire proposal remains on the table with Hamas saying it’s ready to hand over Israeli captives, but Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu rejecting the terms.
Sultan Barakat, a professor at Qatar’s Hamid Bin Khalifa University, says “the Israelis have created further facts on the ground” when it comes to the truce deal that Hamas accepted in July after it was endorsed by the UN Security Council.
Israel has created a “corridor that splits Gaza in two and it will never leave that”, Barakat told Al Jazeera, a fact Hamas cannot agree to in any agreement. “They [the Israelis] use the excuse of security, but they really use it to make the lives of Palestinians even more difficult,” he added.
Hamas says its ready to implement ceasefire without new conditions
The group says negotiators reiterated readiness to implement an “immediate” ceasefire with Israel in Gaza based on a previous US proposal without new conditions from any party.
Hamas said in a statement its negotiation team – led by senior official Khalil al-Hayya – met mediators including Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel in Doha to discuss the latest in Israel’s bloody war on Gaza.
CIA Director William Burns, the chief US negotiator on Gaza, said on Saturday a more detailed ceasefire proposal would be made in the next several days.
