Badr Abdel Aati, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration, and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs, conducted a phone call with Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister, to discuss efforts aimed at de-escalation in the region.
According to Egypt’s official foreign ministry spokesperson, Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, the call involved exchanging views on issues of mutual interest, current regional developments, and efforts to preserve security, stability, and the interests of the people in the region, preventing a cycle of confrontations.
During the call, Lavrov congratulated Minister Abdel Aati on the formation of the new Egyptian government and his appointment to the post, expressing his eagerness to cooperate with him in pursuits beneficial to both countries.
For his part, Minister Abdel Aati affirmed Egypt’s value for its relations with the Russian Federation and expressed an aspiration to continue enhancing bilateral cooperation in a manner that serves the interests of both friendly nations and peoples.
The Israeli army announced the discovery of dozens of tunnels in the Salah al-Din “Philadelphia” corridor, which stretches along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
In a statement on Sunday, the army said, “Recently, Israeli army forces have been working to identify and destroy underground tunnel routes in the ‘Salah al-Din corridor.’ So far, the forces have identified and destroyed dozens of routes.”
The statement added, “At the beginning of last week, during one of the operations to identify underground tunnel routes in the area, a tunnel with a height of 3 meters was discovered.”
It continued, “At this stage, the forces continue to investigate and neutralize the underground tunnel route, as well as other extensive routes that have been found. The Israeli army will completely destroy all underground infrastructure in the ‘Salah al-Din corridor’ and will work firmly to prevent their formation in the future.”
