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Israeli military operations in Gaza have intensified this Friday, with drone strikes killing civilians and injuring dozens, even as a ceasefire technically remains in place. Palestinian factions are traveling to Cairo to discuss the future of the enclave, highlighting the fragile and contested nature of the truce. Intensified Israeli Drone Strikes Defy Ceasefire Terms On Friday morning an Israeli drone struck the southern Khan Younis area, killing a young woman and wounding at least 15 people, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency. Later the same day another strike near Gaza City injured a child. The attacks follow Thursday’s raid that killed at least 11 Palestinians, including five members of the same family. Casualty Toll Since Ceasefire: Numbers Reveal Growing Human Cost 947 people killed 2,935 injured Deaths and injuries have risen steadily since the ceasefire was declared in October. Humanitarian and Political Fallout of Ongoing Bombardment The continued strikes have kept crossing points closed, hampering medical evacuations and aid deliveries. Residents describe a “pervasive state of fear and panic,” with repeated incidents causing displacement and trauma. Politically, the ceasefire’s second phase—Hamas disarmament and Israeli withdrawal—remains stalled, prompting Hamas officials to travel to Cairo for talks on how to enforce the first phase and halt further attacks. Prospects for a Sustainable Ceasefire and Regional Talks Hamas representatives are meeting Egyptian mediators this weekend to “finalise the implementation” of the first phase and discuss mechanisms to prevent further Israeli strikes. International observers warn that without a credible enforcement mechanism, the truce could collapse, leading to renewed large‑scale hostilities. The coming days will test whether diplomatic engagement can translate into a tangible reduction in violence.

The Stance of Hamas on Disarmament Hamas has announced that it will not surrender its arms, resisting ongoing disarmament demands. The group stated that the ultimate fate of its military arsenal will be decided following comprehensive discussions with other Palestinian factions. The Proposal for a Long-Term Hudna In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Husam Badran, a member of the Hamas political bureau, introduced the concept of a long-term hudna (truce). He stated that when the Palestinian committee comes to take over the Gaza Strip, there will be no visible weapons in the streets and alleys of Gaza except the official weapons belonging to the Palestinian police. The Cairo Talks and Factional Consensus The upcoming Cairo meetings will gather eight key Palestinian factions to form a unified national stance. The talks aim to salvage the ceasefire originally proposed by United States President Donald Trump. However, Badran noted that Israel has failed to implement even 30 percent of its phase one obligations, making any transition to subsequent phases impossible. The Disarmament Deadlock While Palestinian factions demand the fulfilment of phase one survival metrics, Israeli officials and Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza on Trump’s “Board of Peace”, are conditioning the transition to phase two on the disarmament of armed groups. Mladenov recently presented a 15-point “roadmap” built by the ceasefire guarantors. Negotiation Time and Israeli Expansion Palestinians view this 15-point framework as a stalling tactic designed to extract concessions while Israel deepens its occupation. Palestinian political analyst Wissam Afifa told Al Jazeera that Israel is exploiting “negotiation time” to exhaust the population through continuous escalation.

The Lead Egypt's new monorail has opened in Cairo, offering a modern and efficient way to travel, but concerns remain about its affordability for many commuters. Cairo's New Monorail Experience The monorail's 56.6km line runs between Nasr City and the New Administrative Capital, with 16 of 22 stations opened in the trial phase. Passengers have praised the monorail's cleanliness, air conditioning, and efficiency, with fares ranging from 20 to 80 Egyptian pounds ($0.38 to $1.53) per ride. Economic Impact of the Monorail The monorail project cost approximately $2.8 billion, built in partnership with Alstom, Arab Contractors, and Orascom. At full capacity, the line can carry 600,000 passengers daily and is expected to create around 20,000 jobs. Affordability Concerns Despite the monorail's benefits, concerns remain about its affordability for many commuters. Egypt's minimum wage is 8,000 pounds a month, approximately $153 at current rates. The monthly cost of riding the full line daily with a subscription reaches approximately 1,760 pounds ($33.80), around 22 percent of the minimum wage. Future Outlook Experts believe that the monorail's fares may decrease as demand increases, but for now, the system works for those who can afford it. The government hopes that the monorail will help solve Cairo's traffic problems and expand the city's transportation infrastructure.

The RSF Attack on Civilians A force affiliated with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed at least 27 people, including elderly residents, in an attack on villages west of Bara in Sudan's North Kordofan state, according to the Sudan Doctors Network. The Cairo-based medical NGO said the attacks took place on Thursday in the al-Murrah area, describing them as “a new crime targeting unarmed civilians in areas with no military presence”. The Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan Sudan has been engulfed in civil war since April 2023, when long-running tensions between the Sudanese army and the RSF erupted into a full-scale conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions. The Kordofan region has become one of the war's main battlegrounds, with fighting intensifying across several fronts, including through drone attacks. The Impact on Civilians The Sudan Doctors Network said that “targeting villages and civilian areas and executing citizens in such a brutal manner constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and all norms and conventions that prohibit attacks on civilians, especially amid the catastrophic humanitarian conditions people are enduring because of the ongoing war”. The group added that the “continued attacks on civilians and safe villages” are worsening the humanitarian crisis and forcing more families into displacement, suffering and the loss of their livelihoods. The Food Security Situation The attacks come as more than 40 percent of Sudan's population faces acute hunger, according to a report released on Thursday by the United Nations-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). The report said nearly 19.5 million people across the country are facing severe food insecurity as the conflict drives what aid agencies describe as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. The Call to Action The Sudan Doctors Network also called on the “international community and human rights and humanitarian organizations to condemn these violations and act urgently to protect civilians and stop the repeated attacks on residential areas by pressuring RSF leaders to end violations against civilians”.

Egypt's Diplomatic Push to Salvage the Gaza CeasefireEgypt has launched an urgent diplomatic intervention to rescue the fragile Gaza ceasefire that is on the brink of collapse. The Egyptian government warned Israel against expanding its occupation in Gaza, saying such moves would undermine the peace process.Senior Hamas delegation led by chief negotiator Khalil al‑Hayya invited to Cairo for talks.Egypt coordinating with mediators in Qatar, Turkey, and the United States.Negotiations aimed to be concluded before the end of the week.Casualty Toll and Territorial Ambitions: Numbers Behind the EscalationIn the past two weeks, at least 141 Palestinians have been killed as Israeli attacks intensify. Since the October ceasefire, Israeli strikes have killed 929 Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to expand control from 53 % to 70 % of Gaza.Regional Fallout: How Egypt's Warning Reshapes Middle‑East DiplomacyEgypt’s warning rejects any “voluntary migration” scheme proposed by Defence Minister Israel Katz and opposes directing Palestinians toward the Rafah crossing. By appealing to U.S. President Donald Trump to restrain Netanyahu, Cairo signals a broader effort to keep the US‑brokered 2025 peace plan intact.What Lies Ahead: Scenarios for the Gaza TruceIf Egypt’s mediation succeeds, a revised addendum to the original peace plan could curb violence and reopen a negotiated track. Failure could trigger a full‑scale escalation, drawing regional powers deeper into the conflict and jeopardizing any prospect of a lasting ceasefire.

The Lead Swedish-Egyptian film-maker Tarik Saleh has long been a brilliant satirist of the corruption and shabby political compromises and conspiracies of post-Mubarak Egypt. Now he brings us the third of his “Cairo trilogy”, after The Nile Hilton Incident in 2017 and Cairo Conspiracy in 2022. This new film is a seductive black-comic political thriller set in Egypt of the present day, showing us that everyone in the glamorous world of the movies, infatuated as they are with made-up stories acted out by narcissists believing in their own publicity, can so easily be pressed into the service of political propaganda. The Event Details The result is a rackety, despairing, funny film with something of Billy Wilder, or István Szabó’s Mephisto, or Bertolucci’s fascism parable The Conformist. For me, it also had echoes of Daniel Kehlmann’s novel The Director, about 1930s Austrian movie director GW Pabst, fatally tempted by the blandishments of Goebbels. Saleh’s lead is his longtime leading man Fares Fares, playing an ageing Egyptian movie star; this is pampered matinee idol George Fahmy, a man comfortable doing cheesy crowd-pleasing potboilers, now bullied into playing the lead in a sinister government-sponsored biopic of the president (with news footage of the current president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, cheekily cut in). The Character Analysis Fares’s gaunt, handsome face so eloquently conveys vanity, but also a poignant emotional woundedness, anxiety and self-pity. George is notionally a Coptic Christian, which has made him an object of suspicion for the government, though he is hardly pious, and is separated from his wife (Donia Massoud) and grownup son Ramy (Suhaib Nashwan). The Impact Analysis It is at one of these events that a general smoothly assures the company that western bigots, who wish to efface Arab achievements, are in a conspiracy to conceal the fact that William Shakespeare was from the Arabic world and his name was “Sheikh Zoupir” – which explains, he adds, why he disliked Jews. This is an unimprovable bit of satirical mischief in Saleh’s script. George flies high with his eagles before a horrible and sickening descent. The Prediction Eagles of the Republic is in UK and Irish cinemas from 22 May.

The Fatah Leadership Elections Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has cast his ballot in internal Fatah leadership elections held at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah. The leaders were elected for the movement’s Central Committee and Revolutionary Council at the Ahmad Shuqairi Hall on Saturday. The Electoral Process After casting his vote, President Abbas pressed to ensure the success of the democratic process that he said would reflect the unity of the movement and its commitment to renewing its leadership institutions, the Wafa news agency reported. The congress is Fatah’s highest decision-making body. The ongoing election is taking place at one of the most volatile junctures in Palestinian history amid Israel’s genocidal war. Historical Context and Participation This eighth congress was originally due in 2021 but has been delayed for five years. The previous meeting, the seventh congress, took place in 2016. Nearly 2,580 members are participating across four locations – Ramallah, Gaza, Cairo, and Beirut – to overcome the geographical fragmentation of the movement. Abbas' Vision for Future Elections “This year is the year of democracy. We held an important conference for the Fatah youth, followed by the holding of local elections last April,” Abbas said. “Today is the Eighth Conference of Fatah, and we are preparing for the elections of the National Council in November, as well as the general and presidential elections, starting with the drafting of the constitution, the political parties law, and the general elections law,” the 90-year-old leader continued. The Impending Succession Question The result of the Eighth General Conference of Fatah is scheduled to be announced on Saturday evening local time. The question of who will eventually succeed Abbas looms large over the conference. Analysts see the congress as a move to weaken democratic mechanisms and install a circle of loyalists in key positions to manage the transition.

Abbas Announces Reform Agenda at Fatah’s Eighth General ConferencePresident Mahmoud Abbas used the opening session of Fatah’s three‑day, eighth general conference in the occupied West Bank to reaffirm his commitment to overhauling the Palestinian Authority (PA) and to holding the long‑postponed presidential and parliamentary elections, though no specific timetable was given.Conference Milestones: Leadership Re‑election and Committee RestructuringDuring Thursday’s plenary, Abbas was unanimously re‑elected as leader of the Fatah movement, securing his continued role as head of the party’s central committee. The congress will also elect 18 new members to the central committee and 80 representatives to the revolutionary council, the movement’s parliament.Numbers at a Glance: Delegates, Seats, and Timeline Gaps~2,580 Fatah members attending the conference1,600 delegates in Ramallah; 400 in Gaza and Cairo each; 200 in Beirut18 central‑committee seats up for election80 revolutionary‑council seats up for electionLast central‑committee election held 10 years agoPolitical Stakes: Domestic Pressure and International ExpectationsThe reform pledge comes amid mounting pressure from the United States, the European Union and Arab states, which have criticised the PA for corruption, stagnation and a declining legitimacy among Palestinians. Rival factions, notably Hamas, have gained ground as Fatah’s popularity wanes, and key figures such as Jibril Rajoub and PA Deputy Hussein al‑Sheikh are being positioned as potential successors.Looking Ahead: Scenarios for Palestinian Governance Post‑AbbasAnalysts see three possible trajectories: (1) a swift transition to new leadership with credible elections, restoring PA credibility; (2) a protracted internal power struggle within Fatah that could further erode public trust; or (3) continued external pressure forcing a negotiated reform package that reshapes the PA’s relationship with Israel and the broader international community. The outcomes will heavily influence the Palestinian national movement’s ability to present a unified front for statehood negotiations.

Executive Summary: Stakes of the 8th Fatah CongressThe Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) held its eighth general congress on May 14, a routine‑sounding event that arrives at a volatile moment in Palestinian politics. With the Gaza Strip under intense Israeli assault and the West Bank facing annexation moves, the congress is being framed as a "quiet battle" over the movement’s future direction and leadership succession. Congress Structure and Delayed TimelineAccording to Fatah’s bylaws, the congress meets every four years to elect the 18‑member Central Committee and the 80‑member Revolutionary Council. The 8th congress was originally scheduled for 2021 but was postponed for five years, making the previous meeting the 7th congress of 2016. Delegates gathered in four locations—Ramallah, Gaza, Cairo and Beirut—to mitigate the movement’s geographic fragmentation. Numbers Behind the Delegates and Decision‑Making BodiesApproximately 2,580 members participated, a figure inflated by the inclusion of senior Palestinian Authority (PA) security and civil officials.The expanded delegate list is viewed by critics as a method to ensure pre‑determined outcomes.The congress will elect an 18‑member Central Committee and an 80‑member Revolutionary Council, bodies that historically shape Fatah’s policy agenda. Political Ramifications for Abbas Succession and Gaza ConflictWhile succession for the 90‑year‑old President Mahmoud Abbas is not on the formal agenda, the congress is widely interpreted as a maneuver to install loyalists who can steer the transition. Veteran leader Nabil Amr warned that the era of Fatah unilaterally selecting a presidential candidate is ending; future leaders will need legitimacy from a national election, not a closed‑room vote.The ongoing war in Gaza adds urgency. Experts note that the newly elected leadership will inherit a “severely difficult political situation” with Gaza besieged, PA funds dwindling, and the two‑state solution eroding on the ground. What the New Leadership May Face in the Coming YearAnalysts predict that the congress‑elected bodies will struggle to regain public trust unless they pivot from bureaucratic loyalty to grassroots engagement. The movement’s survival, especially for its younger members, hinges on delivering tangible political outcomes—most notably, winning a general election that reflects popular will.In short, the 8th Fatah Congress is less a routine administrative gathering and more a litmus test for the movement’s ability to adapt to external pressures and internal demands for democratic renewal.