President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri in Cairo yesterday, according to an Ittihadiya statement. The discussion centered around political developments in Beirut, with El Sisi confirming Egypt’s commitment to Lebanese stability and rejection of any form of foreign interference in its internal affairs. Al Hariri, who thanked Egypt for the support in a press conference later, appears to be dragging his feet on his return to Lebanon today to clear up the confusion over his resignation. He had made another stop to Cyprus to meet its president last evening, according to Reuters. Al Hariri had announced his resignation during a visit to Riyadh earlier this month over alleged Iranian interference in Lebanese politics. El Sisi, together with French President Emmanuel Macron, are said to be “trying to mediate a solution that would involve rolling back Hariri’s resignation,” according to The Associated Press. The story is being widely covered by wires including Reuters and the AFP.

Also on El Sisi’s agenda yesterday was a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where talks revolved around regional developments, particularly the situation in Syria. The two also discussed aspects of the bilateral relationship including the nuclear energy sector and implementation of various projects, according to Sputnik’s coverage of Putin’s heavy diplomatic day.

Sudanese FM’s tactless comments earns unanimous condemnation fromParliament: The House of Representatives is in an uproar over statements made by Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour on Monday which basically accuses Egypt of eating into Sudan’s share of the Nile since a water treaty in 1959. In a rare show of unity, numerous MPs took to the local press to denounce the statement. Deputy Chair of the House National Security Committee Yehia Kedwany and MP Osama Sharshar called the statements proof of a conspiracy by regional countries to isolate and hurt Egypt, with the latter noting Ghandour linking the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam with Halayeb and Shalatin as signs that Sudan is backing Ethiopia on political grounds. Other MPs have even accused Qatar of playing a hand in the situation, AMAY reports.

In other diplomacy news, Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah entered the next phase of their reconciliation talks in Cairo on Tuesday, Bloomberg reports. The talks reportedly got off to a rocky start with Fatah waiting to resume complete administrative control of Gaza, which should happen 1 December, before tackling anything meaningful/

Egypt shuts down Rafah border crossing: This comes as the Palestinian Interior Ministry announced yesterday that Egyptian authorities decided to close down the Rafah border crossing as of Tuesday, the Anadolu Agency reports. The crossing, which was meant to open officially on 15 November under Palestinian Authority control, had been open for three days on Saturday.

The Turkish Egyptian Businessmen’s Association is studying setting up a 1 mn sqm Turkish industrial zone, probably in 10 Ramadan City, the association’s head said, according to Al Shorouk. Plans for the zone include Turkish development of the infrastructure in the zone in addition to Turkish financing for the projects there, he added. The move comes as Turkish companies plan to invest some USD 1 bn in Egypt over the coming period, he said.