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October 26, 2026

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Analysis

What's at stake as Libya's eastern parliament approves Turkey maritime deal

Libya's eastern-based parliament's approval of a long-disputed maritime deal with Turkey marks a strategic win for Ankara as Saddam Hifter seeks Turkish backing for his presidential ambitions, according to analysts.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a joint statements and agreements during the EU and Egypt summit in Brussels, on Oct. 22, 2025.

Sisi says Egypt has no ‘territorial ambitions’ after Israel’s Smotrich threatens Sinai

The Egyptian president’s remarks follow a warning from Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that Israel would seize the Sinai Peninsula if Egypt attacks.

China's President Xi Jinping (center L) walks along with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi followed by their wives Peng Liyuan and Entissar Amer (R) upon their arrival at the Cairo International Airport on September 1, 2026. President Xi Jinping arrived in Egypt on September 1, making a rare trip to the Middle East as both countries face the threat of US sanctions over financial links to Iran. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Why renewed Egypt-Ethiopia tensions are a problem for China

For Beijing, the renewed Egypt-Ethiopia standoff is a zero-sum bind that threatens vital strategic interests on both sides of the Nile.

Joyce Karam

A quadrilateral summit was held on Oct. 4, 2026, attended by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al‑Sisi, Eritrea President Isaias Afwerki, President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council of Sudan Gen. Abdel Fattah al‑Burhan, in New El Alamein City, Egypt.

Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan hold summit amid Ethiopia tensions

All four countries have increasingly tense relations with Ethiopia, driven by disputes over the Nile, Red Sea access and security.

Latest News

Explainer

Why are Egypt and Ethiopia clashing over Tigray, Somalia and the Nile?

This general view shows the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, on February 19, 2022. - Ethiopia's massive hydro-electric dam project on a tributary of the Nile has raised regional tensions notably with Egypt, which depends on the huge river for 97 percent of its water supply. Government officials said the dam would begin producing electricity on Sunday, more than a decade since work first started. (Photo by Amanuel SILESHI / AFP) (Photo by AMANUEL SILESHI/AFP via Getty Ima

Ex-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to sue Netanyahu over Oct. 7 accusations: What to know

Ronen Bar, former chief of Israel's domestic Shin Bet security agency

On secret UAE visit, Netanyahu asked MBZ to deny pre-Oct. 7 warnings

Israeli PM

20 Israelis stranded in Ethiopia seek evacuation as fighting resumes: What to know

A general view of the damaged building housing Tigray TV, the state broadcaster of the Tigray region, following a drone strike in Mekelle, Ethiopia, Sept. 27, 2026.

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Jonathan Fenton-Harvey

In London, reporting on North Africa and Gulf politics

Mohammed Magdy

In Berlin, reporting on Egyptian politics

Ayah Aman

In Cairo, reporting on politics and culture

Salwa Samir

In Giza, reporting on politics

Nada Shaker

In Cairo, reporting on culture

Israeli tanks manoeuvre outside the northern Gaza Strip July 18, 2014. Israel intensified its land offensive in Gaza with artillery, tanks and gunboats on Friday and warned it could "significantly widen" an operation Palestinian officials said was killing ever greater numbers of civilians. The Israeli land advance followed 10 days of barrages against Gaza from air and sea, hundreds of rockets fired by Hamas into Israel and failed attempts by Egypt, a broker of ceasefires in previous Israeli-Palestinian flar

Israeli Cabinet members blame US for failed cease-fire

Backed by Qatar and Turkey and facing American hesitance, Hamas refused the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire, forcing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to begin a ground operation in Gaza to destroy the tunnel networks.

Inside Egypt's cease-fire efforts

Egypt's attempts to broker a cease-fire in Gaza show its commitment to regaining its regional role.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal talks during his interview with Reuters in Doha November 29, 2012. Meshaal said the de facto recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state won by his rival Mahmoud Abbas should be seen alongside Gaza's latest conflict with Israel as a single, bold strategy that could empower all Palestinians. Meshaal said the short war which claimed 162 Palestinian lives and five Israelis was concluded on terms set by the Palestinian Islamist movement and ended its isolation, creating a new mood t

Meshaal speaks out on possible cease-fire

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal urged the United States to take a more balanced approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and criticized Egypt’s hard-line stance toward his movement.

United Arab Emirates Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan attends an Arab League Foreign Ministers emergency meeting at the League's headquarters in Cairo, December 21, 2013. Deadly violence in the West Bank has increased in recent months and at least 19 Palestinians and four Israelis have been killed since U.S.-backed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks resumed in July after a three-year break. REUTERS/ Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX16QIT

UAE likely to support Egypt for long haul

It's in the UAE's interests for Egypt to stabilize, and it will continue to offer unconditional support to Cairo until that objective is met.

United Arab Emirates

Israeli airstrikes damage Egyptian homes

In an attempt to destroy smuggling tunnels, Israel’s bombardment along the Gaza-Egypt border has damaged Egyptian homes.

An Egyptian soldier keeps guard on the border between Egypt and southern Gaza Strip July 1, 2013. Egyptian soldiers and members of Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas are on alert to guard the border area after massive protests in Egypt, Hamas officials said. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX118II

Hatred of Hamas leaves Egyptians unsympathetic

Many Egyptians, upset with Hamas for its alleged support of terrorism against their country, are not expressing much sympathy for the Gaza Strip in its conflict with Israel.

Israel considers costs of escalation in Gaza

Gaza residents bear the costs of war; Israel weighs its option with Hamas; Al-Monitor interviews Iraqi political leaders; the forgotten war in Syria.

A fisherman travels on a boat with his family during low water levels on the river Nile in Cairo, April 19, 2014. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (EGYPT - Tags: ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY) - RTR3LW80

Economic cooperation between Egypt, Ethiopia on the rise

In light of the expected visit of Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to Ethiopia, the Egyptian-Ethiopian committee is working on resuming dialogue on the Renaissance Dam issue.

Labourers work at the Grand Renaissance dam in Guba Woreda, Benishangul Gumuz region March 16, 2014. Egypt fears the $4.7 billion dam, that the Horn of Africa nation is building on the Nile, will reduce a water supply vital for its 84 million people, who mostly live in the Nile valley and delta. Picture taken March 16, 2014. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri (ETHIOPIA - Tags: ENVIRONMENT ENERGY POLITICS BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION) - RTR3HFSQ

Egypt cautiously optimistic on coming Renaissance Dam talks

With tripartite talks between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan concerning the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam scheduled for later in July, Cairo is hopeful that some of the dam’s technical specifications will be modified.

Turkish trucks and tankers, shuttling between Turkey and Iraq, queue on a road leading to the Habur border gate in southeastern Turkey, before crossing into Iraq with their goods, February 23, 2008. Turkey's exports to Iraq jumped nine percent last year to $2.8 billion and its influence can be felt across northern Iraq in the form of supermarkets, consumer goods, construction firms and traders from all over Turkey. To match feature TURKEY-IRAQ/CONFLICT REUTERS/Fatih Saribas (TURKEY) - RTR1XKEF

Turkish truckers try to get on the road again

With the dangers and difficulties now inherent in transiting in Iraq and Syria, the Turkish transportation sector is looking for alternative routes to Middle Eastern markets.

JERUSALEM:Deputy Defence Minister Ephraim Sneh shows journalists in Jerusalem 19 March 2000 the planned Israeli withdrawal from 6.1 percent of the occupied territoris in the West Bank. The Israeli cabinet approved earlier in the day the long-due handover of land to full Palestinian control. (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)

ISIS should be catalyst for new Middle East alliance

The author, who served as a minister in several Israeli governments and as a brigadier general in the Israel Defense Forces, makes the case for an Israel-Saudi Arabia-Egypt alliance, anchored in an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

A man grills kebab, which is used to prepare sandwiches for passers-by, along a street corner in Cairo February 23, 2010. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih(EGYPT - Tags: FOOD SOCIETY) - RTR2AROO

Egypt's 'kofta' scandal sign of missing checks, balances

Egypt needs an effective opposition and parliament to balance executive power.