Egypt has intensified its diplomatic engagement in Lebanon as Foreign Minister Badr Abdellaty arrived Tuesday night at Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport for a series of high-level meetings, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.
Badr Abdellaty © ENS
Egypt has intensified its diplomatic engagement in Lebanon as Foreign Minister Badr Abdellaty arrived Tuesday night at Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport for a series of high-level meetings, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.
On Wednesday, Abdellaty is scheduled to meet President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri—an agenda that underscores Cairo’s renewed interest in shaping political developments in a region marked by volatility and shifting alliances.
The visit comes one day after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi held a phone call with his Lebanese counterpart, congratulating him on the 82nd anniversary of Lebanon’s independence.
According to the Lebanese presidency, Sisi reaffirmed Egypt’s “support for Lebanon and its solidarity with the Lebanese people during the current circumstances.”
Egypt has been quietly increasing its diplomatic footprint in recent months. In October, the head of Egyptian intelligence, Hassan Rachad, traveled to Beirut following a visit to Israel, where he met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
For many observers, these moves signal Cairo’s intention to reassert itself as a central mediator and regional powerbroker at a time when Middle Eastern alliances are being reshaped.
Lebanese Christian leader Samir Geagea delivered a verdict Tuesday that many Lebanese have long wanted to hear but few dared to say out loud: Hezbollah is "finished" in Lebanon, and Iran, not the Lebanese state, will foot the bill for the destruction it caused.
Lebanon has taken the extraordinary step of declaring Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Reza Shibani persona non grata, ordering him to leave Lebanese territory by Sunday at the latest, in a move that marks one of the most significant diplomatic ruptures in the two countries' modern history.
Israel's military will occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, defence minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday, the first time Israel has clearly spelled out its intent to seize swathes of territory that make up nearly a tenth of Lebanon.
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