Word: egyptian
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...only flicker of hope right now for a lifting of Israel's siege of Gaza is if Israel secures the return of Sergeant Gilad Shalit, who has been in Hamas captivity in Gaza since being snatched from the Israeli side of the boundary in the summer of 2006. Through Egyptian and German mediators, Hamas and Israel are negotiating a prisoner swap in which Shalit would be returned in exchange for the release of more than 900 Palestinians held in Israeli jails, many of them convicted of terrorism. Israeli and Palestinian sources tell TIME that the deal now depends on resolving...
...After last winter's war, Hamas has been able to use its Egyptian tunnel network to rearm itself with rockets, but that subterranean supply route may soon stop. Backed by U.S. funding and expertise, the Egyptians are pressing ahead with controversial plans to close off smugglers' burrows into Gaza by building a steel wall that runs 100 ft. (30 m) deep along its border. One noted Egyptian newspaper editor, Ibrahim Issa, dubbed it his country's "Wall of Shame...
...attack seemed singularly horrific: an Egyptian pharmacist, Marwa el-Sherbini, was testifying during an appeal hearing in a Dresden courtroom on July 1 when a Russian émigré, Alex Wiens, lunged at her with a 7-in. kitchen knife. The pregnant mother was stabbed to death as her husband and 3-year-old son looked on helplessly. After protests swept the Arab world, Wiens was sentenced in November to life in prison for what the court deemed a racially motivated murder...
...Egyptian officials say security concerns justify their actions. They claim Islamist militants and drug smugglers use the same routes and that bedouin passers, whom the asylum seekers pay to smuggle them to Israel, sometimes fire at the border guards. Cairo has also come under pressure from the Israeli government to halt the increasing number of migrants crossing the border. Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki says Cairo is doing everything it can to strike a balance between the humane treatment of the asylum seekers and the protection of its borders. "This is a vast desert area, manned by fewer troops...
...Yigal Palmor, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, told TIME that hot return had been approved by both the Israeli and Egyptian justice systems, with the knowledge of the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) in the region. "We know for a fact that most of these people are not asylum seekers. Some of them are, but most are illegal immigrants," he added. However, the UNHCR has condemned the procedure. On Nov. 26, in comments on an ongoing case before Israel's high court, UNHCR said that Egypt is not safe for asylum seekers. It mentions the regular imprisonment by Egypt...