By Ibrahim Khazin
ANKARA (AA) – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi voiced hope on Tuesday for restoring calm at the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait following a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip.
Sisi met in Cairo on Tuesday with Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization Arsenio Dominguez to discuss the situation at the Bab el-Mandab Strait, and ways to restore security in the region given its importance to international maritime trade routes, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.
Sisi said Egypt looks forward to calming the situation in this region, especially with reaching a ceasefire deal in Gaza as part of efforts to restore security in the region, the statement said.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait forms a vital strategic link in the maritime trade route between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea and Egypt’s Suez Canal.
A main source of foreign currency for Egypt, the Suez Canal revenues plummeted to $4 billion in 2024 from $10.2 billion in 2023 due to rising tensions in the Red Sea due to Israel’s war on Gaza.
On Thursday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty urged his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi during a phone call to de-escalate tension in the Red Sea “to maintain the freedom of international navigation in this most important artery in the world."
The Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen has targeted Israeli cargo ships or ones linked with Tel Aviv in the Red Sea with missiles and drones in a show of support for the Gaza Strip, where nearly 47,000 people have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war since October 2023.
Since early 2024, a coalition led by the US has been carrying out airstrikes that it said target Houthi locations in Yemen in response to the group’s Red Sea attacks, with occasional retaliation from the Houthis.
The first six-week phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement took effect on Jan. 19, suspending the Israeli war on the Palestinian enclave.
The 3-phase ceasefire agreement includes a prisoner exchange and sustained calm, aiming for a permanent truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
*Writing by Betul Yilmaz