Egypt stressed the importance of the European role in ensuring Israel’s commitment to its pledges in the Gaza Strip, including achieving “early recovery” without obstacles, at a time when the Strip is suffering from deteriorating humanitarian conditions as a result of a depression that struck it last week, and after Israel escalated its operations by targeting the “Nasser Medical Complex,” on Thursday evening.
The Egyptian confirmation came during a meeting held by Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Ati with the European Union’s Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process, Christophe Piguet, on Friday, on the sidelines of the “Sir Bani Yas” Forum in the United Arab Emirates.
Ambassador Nader Zaki, the official spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that the meeting dealt with efforts to stabilize the ceasefire in Gaza and implement the second phase of the comprehensive plan to end the conflict, including empowering the “National Committee for Gaza Administration,” implementing security arrangements and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
In this regard, Abdel-Aty stressed “the importance of the European role in ensuring Israel’s commitment to its pledges, and the unimpeded access of humanitarian aid and shelter and early recovery supplies,” according to a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Friday.
Egypt had affirmed its “categorical rejection of the continued targeting of health facilities and medical personnel in the Gaza Strip,” and considered it “a blatant violation of the provisions of international humanitarian law, and an undermining of the efforts aimed at establishing the ceasefire and improving the humanitarian conditions in the Strip.”
Egypt condemned, in a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Thursday evening, the Israeli bombing that targeted the “Nasser Medical Complex” in the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, and resulted in casualties and injuries, including children and medical staff, in addition to causing serious damage to the medical departments of the complex.
She called on “the international community to assume its responsibilities to ensure respect for the ceasefire agreement and to prevent the recurrence of these attacks, in a way that creates the conditions for completing the implementation of the peace plan and achieving security and stability in the Gaza Strip.”
On Thursday, the Peace Council, which is responsible for supervising the ceasefire plan in Gaza, called for the immediate implementation of US President Donald Trump’s initiative, following the targeting of the “Nasser Medical Complex.”
The Council said, in a statement, “The tragic loss of life after an Israeli raid on Nasser Hospital clearly confirms why it is necessary to implement President Trump’s comprehensive peace plan immediately, and without any additional delay.”
Abdel-Ati’s meeting with the European official, on Friday, dealt with the situation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where Minister Abdel-Ati stressed the need to stop the Israeli escalation and support the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA.
The Egyptian Foreign Minister stressed the importance of strengthening Egyptian-European coordination to revive the political path leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Tunisian General Labor Union and national and human rights organizations called for participation in a protest movement against the 2027 Finance Law, on the anniversary of the revolution, which falls on December 17, according to what the German Press Agency reported on Friday.
This is the latest planned move by the Labor Union, the largest union in Tunisia, and civil society, after a series of organized marches against the policies of the authorities, led by President Kais Saied with broad powers, high prices and restrictions against public freedoms. The coordination is led in particular by the Union, the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights, the Bar Association, the Journalists Syndicate, and other civil society organizations.
The coordination opposes what it considers to be the entrenchment of tax pressure in the Finance Law, the lack of tax justice, the decline in investment, the decline in public services, the rise in prices, and the deterioration of the purchasing power of large sectors of Tunisians. The Coordination Committee said that the Finance Law, which is being discussed in Parliament, is not an economic rescue or social reform project, but rather it burdens wage earners and vulnerable groups with the cost of the crisis, in exchange for the absence of political responsibility for failure and negligence.
In this regard, Ramadan Ben Omar, an activist specializing in issues related to economic and social rights and immigration, told the German News Agency: “Officials are absent today, as is dialogue and communication, when we see protests for water, the right to work and for environmental demands, and instead of negotiating, the security authorities are present.” He continued, explaining: “The issue is political in its essence for the regional and even central authorities, who feel incapable of dialogue because the decision is limited to one institution.”
Government data showed earlier that most of the state's income in 2026 will come from taxes, at a rate of more than 91 percent, in light of the decline in external lending, which sheds light on the challenges faced by production, investment, and the future of growth. A joint statement by the coordination said: “We reject the Finance Law to be a consolidation of a fait accompli, and we reject the financial balance to be at the expense of the social balance.” Tension prevails between the authority and the Tunisian General Union, which protested the suspension of social negotiations in order to increase wages.
On the night of Thursday-Friday, after hearing more than 15 defendants in the case known locally as the “Foreign Bloggers File,” the investigation chief in charge of terrorism crimes in Nouakchott ordered that 7 defendants be placed in prison, and 9 others subjected to judicial monitoring, while he decided to release a tenth defendant on condition of attendance.
Local sources said that the investigation leader also ordered the issuance of warrants to arrest 7 defendants in the file who are outside the country, most of whom are in the United States, and who are strongly active on social media.
These decisions came after a long day of hearing the defendants in the case, which continued until late Thursday-Friday night, amid tight security measures in the vicinity of the Palace of Justice, while dozens of families and relatives of the defendants gathered.
On Thursday evening, the Public Prosecution held a press conference in which it said that the judicial police had referred the file to it. The prosecution team in charge of terrorism crimes worked on it, studied digital and other evidence, and listened to the suspects, in accordance with “Article 28” of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The prosecution charged those involved with forming an organized gang to threaten the internal and external security of the state, demanding the elimination of the constitutional order, harming the state’s prestige, national unity and civil peace, and inciting discrimination and hatred, via social media platforms.
The list of charges also included divulging military information with the intention of harming national defense and security, weakening the morale of the armed forces, defamation, slander, spreading false news, and money laundering, which are very serious charges. While the coordinator of the prosecution team in charge of terrorism crimes, Public Prosecutor Judge Abdullah Ankajali, confirmed that the actions attributed to the group target the security of the state, its constitutional system, and its national unity.
The prosecution requested the opening of an investigation against 22 people, with arrest warrants for 7 who are abroad, placing 15 in prison, and charging two of the defendants with money laundering, while placing them under strict judicial surveillance.
The prosecution explained that the charges against the detainees are criminalized in a group of Mauritanian laws, the most prominent of which are the anti-terrorism law, the law relating to the protection of national symbols, the criminalization of attacking the prestige of the state, the honor of the citizen, the law relating to the criminalization of discrimination, in addition to the criminal law, the cybercrime law, the law relating to protection against tampering with information, and the anti-money laundering law.
The arrests began on September 28, and included relatives of opposition bloggers abroad, then expanded to include journalists, currency exchange shop owners, and real estate market brokers. The government at the time described the file as a security campaign aimed at dismantling a “financial extortion network.”
The defense of three detainees said on November 4 that their detention was “control detention.” A statement by the prosecution justified preventing detainees from contacting their lawyers with “Article 58,” which excludes cases of state security and terrorism.
Opponents and bloggers denied the charges and described the file as revenge. The total number of defendants in the Pole’s decision is 24 people, including 17 inside the country, and 7 are wanted.
