Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh goes on Egyptian PR offensive
Egypt’s bid to drive reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah was the only real story of note on the airwaves last night as talk show hosts limped into a three-day weekend.
Hona Al Asema’s Lamees El Hadidy spoke to Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza. The faction leader told the host that issues, such as Gaza’s power supply and travel restrictions, will be ironed out in a meeting with rival faction Fatah in Cairo next week (watch, runtime 34:43).
On Kol Youm, Amr Adib sat down with Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah to talk about the path forward to ratify the reconciliation (watch, runtime 2:15). We have more on the topic in the Speed Round, below.
Back on the homefront, Health Committee chair Mohamed El Ammary told Yahduth fi Misr’s Sherif Amer that the Universal Healthcare Act — a top priority for his committee — will be financed through budget reserves if passed during the current legislative term. 25-30 Coalition member Ahmed Tantawy also told Amer that a local development law is in the pipeline.
Over on Masaa DMC, African Development Bank Vice President Khaled Sherif told host Osama Kamal that he is set to meet Prime Minister Sherif Ismail today to wrap up discussions over the final USD 500 mn tranche of the bank’s loan that will be disbursed in January. Sherif also briefed Kamal on the various bank-funded projects in Egypt (watch, runtime 6:34).
Kamal also spoke with Immigration Minister Nabila Makram about a campaign that’s in the works to enlist the help of expats in Egypt to promote tourism (watch, runtime 15:37).