Egyptian media quoted a "high-level" source as saying that Cairo denied reaching an agreement with Israel regarding the Philadelphia Axis, stressing that there were no "new security arrangements regarding that axis."
Egyptian media revealed on Thursday that Cairo denied reaching an agreement with Israel regarding the Philadelphia Axis, or any security arrangements regarding it.
The private "Cairo News" channel, which is close to the Egyptian authorities, said that it reported this from a "high-ranking security source" that it did not name.
The channel quoted the source as denying what was being circulated about the approaching agreement with Israel regarding Rafah and the Salah al-Din/Philadelphia axis, or the installation of any technological means in the axis.
The same source confirmed that there are “no new security arrangements regarding that axis.”
Earlier Thursday, Israeli Army Radio said that Tel Aviv and Cairo are "close to reaching understandings regarding the city of Rafah and the Philadelphia axis, on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, after an ongoing dialogue between the two parties at the security levels."
Since the start of the devastating Israeli war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced from the north and center of the Gaza Strip to its south after thousands of homes were destroyed, making the city of Rafah, near the Egyptian border, the most crowded with displaced people.
The American website "Axios" said on Tuesday that Ronen Bar, director of the Israeli General Security Service (Shin Bet), visited Cairo on Monday, and discussed with the head of the Egyptian Intelligence Service, Abbas Kamel, the file of the Philadelphia border axis.
The Philadelphia Corridor is an extension of land along the Gaza border with Egypt, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stressed, on more than one occasion, “the necessity of military control over it.”
Tunisia Ghannouchi sentenced to 3 years in prison on charges of “receiving foreign funding”
A Tunisian court on Thursday sentenced the head of the Ennahda movement and former speaker of parliament, Rached Ghannouchi, to 3 years in prison on charges of receiving foreign funding.
A Tunisian court on Thursday sentenced the head of the Ennahdha movement, Rached Ghannouchi, to 3 years in prison on charges of receiving foreign funding.
The Tunis Africa News Agency (official) said, “The criminal chamber specialized in financial corruption cases at the Court of First Instance in Tunis issued a ruling to imprison the opposition leader, Rashid Ghannouchi, for three years, with immediate effect, on charges of receiving foreign funding.”
She added, "The court issued a similar ruling against his son-in-law, Rafiq Abdel Salam."
On April 17, Tunisian security arrested Ghannouchi after raiding his house, before the court of first instance in the capital ordered him to be imprisoned in the case of “statements attributed to him inciting against state security.”
Ghannouchi is one of the most prominent leaders of the opposition Salvation Front, which rejects exceptional measures that President Kais Saied began imposing on July 25, 2021, most notably: dissolving the Judicial Council and Parliament (which Ghannouchi headed), issuing legislation by presidential orders, approving a new constitution through a referendum, and holding early legislative elections. The opposition boycotted it.
Since February 2023, Tunisia has witnessed an arrest campaign that included media figures, activists, judges, businessmen, and politicians, including Ghannouchi and a number of Ennahdha leaders, including Ali Al-Arayedh, Nour Al-Din Al-Behairi, and Sayed Al-Ferjani.
While Saied repeatedly stressed the independence of the judicial authorities, the opposition accuses him of using the judiciary to prosecute those who reject his exceptional measures.