MIDEAST: Egyptians Too Hit by Israeli Strikes

Residents along Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip are still awaiting compensation for property damaged by air strikes during Israel's recent onslaught against the Hamas-run enclave.

EGYPT: Financial Crunch Squeezes Suez

At the Suez Canal, one of Egypt's fiscal mainstays, the threat of Somali piracy pales in comparison with the potential knock-on effects of the global economic depression.

EGYPT: Fears Rise Over Spate of Missing Children

A surge in reports of missing children has set off alarm across the Egyptian countryside. The fears are being fed both by reports and rumour.

EGYPT: Thanks to Facebook, Young Women Take to Political Activism

In recent years, Egypt has witnessed increasing participation by women in grassroots political activism. Local civil rights advocates attribute the phenomenon to novel means of communication and organisation, especially the social networking website Facebook.

MIDEAST: Fatah-Hamas Reconciliation Looking Distant

Doubts have arisen about a Fatah-Hamas reconciliation ahead of a new round of talks. The last talks between the two Palestinian factions failed to bridge outstanding differences.

EGYPT: Dubious Claims Spark Row With Hizbullah

Egyptian authorities announced earlier this month the discovery of a Hizbullah "cell" allegedly planning to carry out violent operations in Egypt. Although Hizbullah chief Hasan Nasrallah insists the group was only tasked to assist the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, the government has used the episode to launch a blistering media campaign against the Lebanese Shia resistance group.

MIDEAST: Gaza Resistance Destroys Fatah Faction

The recent onslaught against the Gaza Strip - and Israel's failure to achieve its military objectives there - left Palestinian resistance group Hamas politically stronger than ever. Concurrently, it dealt a possible death blow to the faction within Fatah led by strongman Mohamed Dahlan, long known for its closeness to Israel.

MIDEAST: Arabs Strap Up for Netanyahu Era

Many Arabs are seeing the emergence of Binyamin Netanyahu as prime minister of Israel as the death knell for the already moribund peace process.

EGYPT: State Security Blunts ‘Day of Anger’

Egyptians expressed their discontent Monday with rising prices and political stagnation in a national 'day of anger' organised by online activists. Although smaller in scope than a nationwide strike on this date last year, opposition figures say the demonstrations across the country made their point.

MIDEAST: Big Powers Moving In on Gaza

Nine NATO member states agreed last month to utilise naval, intelligence and diplomatic resources to combat the alleged flow of arms into the Gaza Strip. Some Egyptian commentators see the move as a surreptitious means of cementing foreign control over the region.

EGYPT: Camp David Accord Unacceptable to Many

Egyptian and Israeli officials celebrated the anniversary of the Camp David peace agreement last week. The agreement normalised relations between the two former adversaries 30 years earlier on Mar. 26. Opposition leaders, however, are calling for a suspension of the treaty, which they say fails to serve Egyptian interests.

Q&A: Sacked for Writing Against the Egypt Regime

For years, Abdelhalim Kandil has been one of Egypt's most high-profile opposition journalists, known for writing hard-hitting articles critical of the ruling regime of President Hosni Mubarak.

MIDEAST: Palestinians Failing to Stitch the Split

Reconciliation talks between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah in Cairo this week yielded an agreement to hold national elections early next year. The two sides, however, remain deadlocked over the proposed terms of a national unity government.

EGYPT: Labour Strikes Point to Economic Pain

Egypt has seen a wave of labour strikes in recent weeks by workers in a range of professions from lawyers to truck drivers. Although strikers' specific demands vary, commentators generally attribute the phenomenon to increasingly difficult economic circumstances.

MIDEAST: Border Areas Bombed Again

Almost two months after the war on the Gaza Strip, the border area between the battered coastal enclave and Egypt continues to come under frequent Israeli aerial bombardment. Israeli officials say the strikes target cross-border tunnels used to smuggle weapons to Palestinian resistance factions.

MIDEAST: Gaza Reconstruction Has a Political Price-Tag

A conference held this week in Cairo devoted to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip succeeded in raising more than 5 billion dollars from international donors. But some critics say the issue is being used as a means of isolating Gaza-based resistance faction Hamas.

EGYPT: Solidarity With Gaza Brings Jail

Magdi Hussein, secretary-general of Egypt's suspended Socialist Labour Party, has been sentenced to two years in prison by a military tribunal. Hussein, along with two others, was charged with "infiltrating" into the Gaza Strip following Israel's recent campaign against the coastal enclave...

MIDEAST: Fatah and Hamas on an Uphill Road to Rapprochement

Representatives of rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas met in Cairo this week for talks aimed at national reconciliation and the formation of a unity government.

EGYPT: Israel Ditches the Go-Between

Senior Egyptian officials have indicated that the new demands raised by Israel for ceasefire could affect the peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas being brokered by Egypt.

MIDEAST: Border Politics Slows Aid to Gaza

Egyptian authorities are continuing to prevent humanitarian aid from crossing the border into the Gaza Strip, according to local sources.

MIDEAST: Little Hope From New US Mediation

Egyptians seem at best only cautiously optimistic over the appointment of Senator George Mitchell as U.S. envoy to the Middle East. Mitchell is mandated chiefly with settling the Arab-Israeli dispute.