Israeli plan to seize Gaza alarms many: ‘What's left for you to bomb?'
Israeli plan to seize Gaza alarms many: 'What's left for you to bomb?' /node/2599707/middle-east Chinese fighter jets soar over Egypt in first joint exercises /node/2599704/middle-east Chinese fighter jets soar over Egypt in first joint exercises
Updated 26 sec ago
May 06, 2025 09:01 Chinese fighter jets soar over Egypt in first joint exercises
Drills showcased China's military hardware, Egypt's regional clout
Beijing expanding defense and technology ties in North Africa
Updated 26 sec ago
Reuters
May 06, 2025 09:01
BEIJING: The sound of Chinese fighter jets roared over the Egyptian pyramids and could echo across the Middle East, as Beijing wrapped up military drills with Cairo aimed at chipping away at US strategic influence in the volatile region. China's military on Monday released videos of its fast jets, helicopters and transport planes flying high above the Sahara and hailing inaugural joint air force exercises with Egypt as 'a signal of deepening military ties and shifting alliances.' The joint exercises with one of the United States' biggest security partners come as Washington increasingly turns inward under President Donald Trump, allowing China to deepen ties across North Africa and invest billions in security projects. 'As Egypt looks beyond its traditional US partnership, a new era of cooperation is taking flight over Cairo's skies,' said a video released by the international division of state broadcaster CCTV, as a jet plane takes off into the night. Global Times, a tabloid owned by the newspaper of the ruling Communist Party, People's Daily, said the 'Eagles of Civilization 2025' drills had established a foundation for various potential cooperation between the two countries' militaries at a time when Egypt is trying to upgrade its combat equipment, citing experts. Analysts say the 18-day drills also help Egypt assert itself as a major regional power among the Arab nations and North Africa amid growing regional turbulence. 'It's great public diplomacy for (China), particularly in the Middle East,' said Eric Orlander, co-founder of the China-Global South Project. 'It's what brings people in the door for them to sell drones, SAMs, light arms, transports, et cetera.' 'A major regional power needs an Air Force, right?' he added. Orlander cautioned that switching jet fighter systems is very expensive, and Washington could choose to withhold financial military support from Cairo if it upped its purchases of Chinese technologies. But the United States — the primary security partner to Egypt, neighboring Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states since the late seventies — has made large foreign cuts under Trump that have been keenly felt across the region. And with the Gaza crisis unfolding to its north-east, ethnic violence in Sudan to the south, and political instability in Libya to its west, Egypt finds itself squeezed on three fronts. China has since pledged billions in fresh investment for projects such as satellite manufacturing facilities in Egypt capable of producing military-grade surveillance equipment.
Beijing's air force said the drills represented 'a new starting point and a significant milestone in military cooperation between the two countries,' in a statement marking their conclusion. Topics: Egypt China Military Top Hamas official says Gaza truce talks no longer of interest /node/2599690/middle-east Top Hamas official says Gaza truce talks no longer of interest
Updated 06 May 2025
May 06, 2025 06:02 Top Hamas official says Gaza truce talks no longer of interest
A senior Hamas official said Tuesday the group was no longer interested in truce talks with Israel and urged the international community to halt Israel's 'hunger war' against Gaza
Updated 06 May 2025
AFP
May 06, 2025 06:02
GAZA: A senior Hamas official said Tuesday the group was no longer interested in truce talks with Israel and urged the international community to halt Israel's "hunger war" against Gaza. "There is no sense in engaging in talks or considering new ceasefire proposals as long as the hunger war and extermination war continue in the Gaza Strip," Basem Naim told AFP. He said the world must pressure the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the "crimes of hunger, thirst, and killings" in Gaza. The comments by Naim, a Hamas political bureau member and former Gaza health minister, come a day after Israel's military said expanded operations in Gaza would include displacing "most" of its residents. On Monday Israel's security cabinet approved the military's plan for expanded operations, which an Israeli official said would entail "the conquest of the Gaza Strip and the holding of the territories". Nearly all of the territory's residents inhabitants have been displaced, often multiple times, since the start of the war sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Gaza has been under total Israeli blockade since March 2 and faces a severe humanitarian crisis. Israel's military resumed its offensive on the Gaza Strip on March 18, ending a two-month truce.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot in a radio interview on Tuesday called Israel's plan for a Gaza offensive "unacceptable", and said its government was "in violation of humanitarian law". Sudan's paramilitary unleashes drones on key targets in Port Sudan /node/2599680/middle-east Sudan's paramilitary unleashes drones on key targets in Port Sudan
Updated 06 May 2025
May 06, 2025 05:25
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