Sisi, Putin Stress Importance of Restoring Stability in Gaza

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin greets Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi prior to the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel / Pool / AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin greets Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi prior to the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel / Pool / AFP)
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Sisi, Putin Stress Importance of Restoring Stability in Gaza

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin greets Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi prior to the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel / Pool / AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin greets Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi prior to the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel / Pool / AFP)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin stressed on Friday the importance of restoring calm in the Middle East, especially Gaza.

The officials met in Moscow on the sidelines of Russia’s commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.

Sisi underlined the importance of reaching a final solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through the establishment of an independent Palestinian state according to the 1967 borders, said an Egyptian presidency statement.

Putin, for his part, expressed Russia’s support for Egypt’s efforts to restore calm in the region and rebuild Gaza.

Discussions between the leaders also covered the situations in Syria, Libya and Sudan, as well as the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.

Sisi reiterated Egypt’s position in support of diplomacy to resolve international crises, said the presidency.

Moreover, Sisi and Putin underlined their determination to bolster cooperation in the fields of energy, food security, mining, agriculture and industry. They also agreed on the importance of raising the number of Russian tourists heading to Egypt.



Hamas Releases Video of Two Israeli Hostages Alive in Gaza

 A picture taken near Israel's border with Gaza shows smoke billowing in the besieged Palestinian territory on May 8, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
A picture taken near Israel's border with Gaza shows smoke billowing in the besieged Palestinian territory on May 8, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Hamas Releases Video of Two Israeli Hostages Alive in Gaza

 A picture taken near Israel's border with Gaza shows smoke billowing in the besieged Palestinian territory on May 8, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
A picture taken near Israel's border with Gaza shows smoke billowing in the besieged Palestinian territory on May 8, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Hamas's armed wing released a video on Saturday showing two Israeli hostages alive in the Gaza Strip, with one of the two men calling to end the 19-month-long war.

Israeli media identified the pair in the undated video as Elkana Bohbot and Yosef Haim Ohana, who were kidnapped during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war.

The three-minute video released by Hamas's Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades shows one of the hostages, identified by media as 36-year-old Bohbot, visibly weak and lying on the floor wrapped in a blanket.

Bohbot, a Colombian-Israeli, was seen bound and injured in the face in video footage from the day of the Hamas attack. After a video of him was released last month, his family said they were "extremely concerned" about his health.

The second hostage, said to be Ohana, 24, speaks in Hebrew in the video, urging the Israeli government to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of all remaining captives -- a similar message to statements made by other hostages, likely under duress, in previous videos released by Hamas.

Bohbot and Ohana, both abducted by Palestinian gunmen from the site of a music festival, are among 58 hostages held in Gaza since the 2023 attack, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Hamas also holds the remains of an Israeli soldier killed in a 2014 war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that the fate of three hostages presumed alive was unclear, without naming them.

"We know with certainty that 21 hostages are alive... and there are three others whose status, sadly, we do not know," Netanyahu said in a video shared on his Telegram channel.

Israel resumed its military offensive across the Gaza Strip on March 18, after a two-month truce that saw the release of dozens of hostages.

Since the ceasefire collapsed, Hamas has released several videos of hostages, including of the two appearing in Saturday's video.

Israel says the renewed offensive aims to force Hamas to free the remaining captives, although critics charge that it puts them in mortal danger.

Hamas's October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Saturday that at least 2,701 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign in Gaza, bringing the overall death toll since the war broke out to 52,810.

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