Egyptian President Calls for Quick Start on Gaza Ceasefire and U.S.-Iran Deal

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called for urgent implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement signed in Sharm el-Sheikh last October and the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding signed in Switzerland last month. El-Sisi said any attempts to undermine either agreement must be prevented.

He also stated that Egypt had lost more than $10 billion in Suez Canal revenue because of Houthi attacks on vessels in the Bab al-Mandeb strait.

Turkish officials said peace efforts in the Middle East require regional support and warned that Israel must not be allowed to undermine the U.S.-Iran memorandum. The same officials said no solution lacking backing from regional countries can last. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian criticized what he described as international silence over Israeli actions in multiple countries.

He said Iran’s new leadership carries responsibility to strengthen Islamic unity.

Israeli drone strikes killed two people in Gaza City and one in the Jabalia refugee camp, according to the Wafa news agency. Additional strikes wounded others, some critically, in central and northern Gaza. Israeli attacks also struck the southern Lebanese towns of al-Mansouri and Tallousah, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported.

The strikes occurred despite a framework agreement signed last month by Israel, Lebanon, and the U.S. intended to support a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanon’s Minister of Social Affairs Haneen Sayed said about 400,000 displaced people have returned to southern Lebanon.

More than one million people had been displaced by earlier fighting.