Seeking to unify Gaza Strip factions on their truce with Israel, Egypt hosted leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad earlier this month in Cairo.

Egyptian Naval Forces carried out on Wednesday several military exercises designed for imposing maritime control over the economic zones in the Mediterranean Sea and securing Egypt’s interests in this critical region, as part of annual combat training for the country’s armed forces.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi highlighted Egypt’s war against terrorism including the fight in Sinai as well as along the western borders with Libya, and affirmed the need to reach a “peaceful” political solution to the Libyan crisis.

China, Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are the world’s worst jailers of journalists in 2019, according to the latest census report by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushed Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on a US citizen that Cairo has detained for six years. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus noted that Pompeo pressed Shoukry Monday on “concerns over press freedom, human rights and Americans detained in Egypt, including Moustafa Kassem.”

The wife of jailed activist Shady Ghazaly, Fatima Murad, releases an emotional message to Egyptian authorities, saying life in Egypt has become unbearable.

Local politicians and national security officials have predicted that the “continuous government restructuring activities” carried out by the Egyptian regime president, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi across the military and police would include “all sectors that could pose a threat to his stay in power.”

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi recently appointed a slate of new governors and deputies that is weighted with police and military leaders at the expense of civilians. The appointments come as parliament is expecting a Cabinet reshuffle.

At least four Egyptian soldiers were killed on Sunday morning in North Sinai, in two simultaneous attacks thought to have been carried out by Wilayat Sinai, the Islamic State-affiliated militant group waging a violent insurgency in the desert peninsula.

 The report dissects Egypt’s military-led economic model and offers thoughts on how external actors can engage with the country’s formal and informal networks.