Egypt Denies Court Ruling Threatens Historic Monastery
Cairo has denied that the ruling threatens the UNESCO world heritage landmark, after Greek and church authorities warned of the sacred site's status.
St Catherine's monastery was established in the sixth century at the biblical site of the burning bush in the southern mountains of the Sinai peninsula, and is the world's oldest continually inhabited Christian monastery.
A court in Sinai ruled on Wednesday in a land dispute between the monastery and the South Sinai governorate that the monastery "is entitled to use" the land, which "the state owns as public property".
But on Friday, in a phone call with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Cairo was "fully committed to preserving the unique and sacred religious status of Saint Catherine's monastery, and ensuring it is not violated".
The Greek premier's office said Mitsotakis emphasised the importance of "preserving the pilgrimage and Greek Orthodox character of the monastery and resolving the issue in an institutional manner", based on an agreement between the two countries.
A Greek delegation is due to visit Egypt next week, the government in Athens said.
Sisi's office has defended the court ruling, saying that it "consolidates" the site's sacred status, after the head of the Greek Orthodox church in Greece denounced it.
Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens called the court ruling "scandalous" and an infringement by Egyptian judicial authoriities of religious freedoms.
He said the decision means "the oldest Orthodox Christian monument in the world, the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine in Mount Sinai, now enters a period of severe trial -- one that evokes much darker times in history".
The Saint Catherine area, which includes the eponymous town and a nature reserve, is undergoing mass development under a controversial government megaproject aimed at bringing in mass tourism.
Observers say the project has harmed the reserve's ecosystem and threatened both the monastery and the local community.
Archbishop Ieronymos warned that the monastery's property would now be "seized and confiscated", despite "recent pledges to the contrary by the Egyptian President to the Greek Prime Minister".
Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis contacted his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty on Thursday, saying "there was no room for deviation from the agreements between the two parties", the ministry's spokesperson said.
In a statement to Egypt's state news agency, the foreign ministry in Cairo later said rumours of confiscation were "unfounded", and that the ruling "does not infringe at all" on the monastery's sites or its religious and spiritual significance.
Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said "Greece will express its official position ... when the official and complete content of the court decision is known and evaluated".
He confirmed both countries' commitment to "maintaining the Greek Orthodox religious character of the monastery".
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Int'l Business Times
11 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
Mediators Await Israeli Response To New Truce Offer
Mediators were awaiting an Israeli response Tuesday to a fresh Gaza ceasefire plan, a day after Hamas accepted the proposal and signalled its readiness for a new round of talks aimed at ending nearly two years of war. The foes have held on-and-off indirect negotiations throughout the war resulting in two short truces and the releases of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, but they have ultimately failed to broker a lasting ceasefire. The efforts have been mediated by Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, with frequent rounds of shuttle diplomacy aiming to break the deadlock. Egypt said Monday that it and Qatar had sent the new proposal to Israel, adding "the ball is now in its court". According to a report in Egyptian state-linked outlet Al-Qahera, the latest deal proposes an initial 60-day truce, a partial hostage release, the freeing of some Palestinian prisoners and provisions allowing for the entry of aid. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to publicly comment on the plan, but said last week that his country would accept "an agreement in which all the hostages are released at once and according to our conditions for ending the war". Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said on social media that his group had "opened the door wide to the possibility of reaching an agreement, but the question remains whether Netanyahu will once again close it, as he has done in the past". Hamas's acceptance of the proposal comes as Netanyahu faces increasing pressure at home and abroad to end the war. On Sunday, tens of thousands took to the streets in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv to call for the end of the war and a deal to free the remaining hostages still being held captive. Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas's October 2023 attack that triggered the war, 49 are still in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. The new proposal also comes after Israel's security cabinet approved plans to conquer Gaza City and nearby refugee camps, fanning fears the new offensive will worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the devastated territory. Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir -- who has staunchly opposed ending the war -- slammed the plan, warning of a "tragedy" if Netanyahu "gives in to Hamas". Gaza's civil defence agency reported that 27 people were killed Tuesday by Israeli strikes and fire across the territory. Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP the situation was "very dangerous and unbearable" in the Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods of Gaza City, where he said "artillery shelling continues intermittently". The Israeli military declined to comment on specific troop movements, saying only that it was "operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities" and took "feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm". Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the Palestinian territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military. Sabra resident Hussein al-Dairi, 44, said "tanks are firing shells and mortars, and drones are firing bullets and missiles" in the neighbourhood. "We heard on the news that Hamas had agreed to a truce, but the occupation is escalating the war against us, the civilians," he added. Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's offensive has killed more than 62,004 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable.
Int'l Business Times
a day ago
- Int'l Business Times
Hamas Accepts New Gaza Truce Plan: Hamas Official
Hamas has accepted a new ceasefire proposal for Gaza without requesting amendments, a source from the group told AFP Monday, after a fresh diplomatic push to end more than 22 months of war. Mediators Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, have struggled to secure a lasting truce in the conflict, which has triggered a dire humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. But after receiving a new proposal from meditators, Hamas said it was ready for talks. "Hamas has delivered its response to the mediators, confirming that Hamas and the factions agreed to the new ceasefire proposal without requesting any amendments," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Israel has yet to respond. A Palestinian source familiar with the talks said mediators were "expected to announce that an agreement has been reached and set a date for the resumption of talks", adding guarantees were offered to ensure implementation and pursue a permanent solution. Another Palestinian official earlier said mediators had proposed an initial 60-day truce and hostage release in two batches. The proposal comes more than a week after Israel's security cabinet approved plans to expand the war into Gaza City and nearby refugee camps, which has sparked international outcry as well as domestic opposition. An Islamic Jihad source told AFP the plan envisaged a 60-day ceasefire "during which 10 Israeli hostages would be released alive, along with a number of bodies". Out of 251 hostages taken during Hamas's October 2023 attack that triggered the war, 49 are still held in Gaza including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. The Islamic Jihad source said "the remaining captives would be released in a second phase", with negotiations for a broader settlement to follow. They added that "all factions are supportive" of the Egyptian and Qatari proposal. US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social: "We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!!" "The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be." Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel "will agree to an agreement in which all the hostages are released at once and according to our conditions for ending the war". Meanwhile, in a now familiar scene in Gaza, AFP footage from the southern city of Khan Yunis showed crowds of mourners kneeling over the shrouded bodies of their loved ones who were killed seeking aid the day before. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, visiting the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on Monday, said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was visiting "to consolidate our existing common efforts in order to apply maximum pressure on the two sides to reach a deal as soon as possible". Alluding to the dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people living in the Gaza Strip, where UN agencies and aid groups have warned of famine, Abdelatty stressed the urgency of reaching an agreement. "The current situation on the ground is beyond imagination," he said. Egypt said on Monday it was willing to join a potential international force deployed to Gaza, but only if backed by a UN Security Council resolution and accompanied by a "political horizon". On the ground, Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 11 people across the territory on Monday, including six killed by Israeli fire in the south. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was "not aware of any casualties as a result of IDF fire" in the southern areas reported by the civil defence. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the Palestinian territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military. Rights group Amnesty International meanwhile accused Israel of enacting a "deliberate policy" of starvation in Gaza and "systematically destroying the health, well-being and social fabric of Palestinian life". Israel, while heavily restricting aid allowed into Gaza, has repeatedly rejected claims of deliberate starvation. Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's offensive has killed more than 62,004 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable. Rights group Amnesty International has accused Israel of enacting a 'deliberate policy' of starvation in Gaza AFP
Int'l Business Times
6 days ago
- Int'l Business Times
Thousands Battle Greece Fires As Heatwave Bakes Europe
Greece on Wednesday battled to contain more than 20 wildfires including one menacing its third-largest city Patras as a heatwave stoked blazes and forced the evacuation of thousands in southern Europe. Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, the Balkans and Britain have this week wilted in high temperatures that fuel wildfires and which scientists say human-induced climate change is intensifying. Since dawn on Wednesday, 4,850 firefighters and 33 planes were mobilised across Greece on what promised to be "a very difficult day", fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said. A fire near the ancient Mycenaean archaeological site of Voudeni, just seven kilometres (four miles) from Patras, threatened forested zones and homes, and the area was covered by a thick cloud of smoke, an AFP journalist reported. Fierce wind "is hampering the task of water bombers, and is making collecting water at sea more difficult", the president of the firefighter officers' union, Kostas Tsigkas, told public broadcaster ERT. In the western Achaia region in the Peloponnese, to which the coastal city of Patras belongs, around 20 villages were evacuated on Tuesday. Other fronts were burning on the popular tourist island of Zante and the Aegean island of Chios, scarred by a huge wildfire in June that ravaged more than 4,000 hectares. The Greek coastguard said it had helped evacuate nearly 80 people from Chios and near Patras. The national ambulance service reported 52 hospitalisations from Achaia, Chios and the western town of Preveza, including "a small number of firefighters", mostly for respiratory problems and minor burns. Temperatures are due to come close to 40C in parts of western Greece on Wednesday, including the northwest Peloponnese, national weather service EMY forecast. After Greece requested four water bombers from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to bolster its resources, leftist opposition party Syriza criticised the conservative government's preparation for the fires that hit every year. Greece needed "a bold redistribution of resources in favour of civil protection", an "emphasis on prevention", better coordination and new technologies in its civil protection system, Syriza said. At the other end of the Mediterranean, wildfires continued to dominate the news in Spain, where cooler temperatures and greater humidity were expected to help control blazes in which two people have died. Authorities in the northwestern region of Castile and Leon, where flames have threatened a world heritage Roman mining site, said almost 6,000 people from 26 localities had been evacuated from their homes. Bushy undergrowth and searing temperatures that have baked Spain for almost two weeks had created "the worst possible breeding ground for this situation", Castile and Leon's civil protection head Irene Cortes said. A total of 199 wildfires have scorched nearly 98,784 hectares across Spain this year, more than double the area burned during the same period in 2024. Neighbouring Portugal deployed more than 1,800 firefighters and around 20 aircraft against five major blazes, with efforts focused on a blaze in the central municipality of Trancoso that has raged since Saturday. Strong gusts of wind had rekindled flames overnight and threatened nearby villages, where television images showed locals volunteering to help the firefighters under a thick cloud of smoke. "It's scary... but we are always ready to help each other," a mask-wearing farmer told Sic Noticias television, holding a spade in his hand. Italian firefighters had extinguished a blaze that burned for five days on the famed Mount Vesuvius and spewed plumes of smoke over the Naples area. In Britain, temperatures were expected to peak at 34C in the country's fourth heatwave of the summer. The UK Health Security Agency warned of "significant impacts" on health and social care services for the parts of central and southeastern England where the harshest heat was forecast. The Balkans have wilted in high temperatures that fuel wildfires AFP Authorities in Spain's northwestern region of Castile and Leon said almost 6,000 people from 26 localities had been evacuated from their homes AFP
