Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II attempted on Monday to reassure Egyptians after the recent attacks on Copts in North Sinai, stressing that the Coptic families that have fled the governorate out of fear of terrorist violence will return to the city "when the time is right." At the start of this month, the Coptic Orthodox Church announced that 143 Christian families had fled North Sinai to Ismailiya after a spate of killings of Christians by Islamist militants in the governorate.

Islamic State's branch in the Sinai Peninsula posted a video on Tuesday depicting the beheading of two men the militant Islamist group said it had found guilty of practicing witchcraft and sorcery. The video, posted on a Telegram channel often used by IS, showed the group forming a religious police unit known as the Hasbah in northern Sinai, where it has waged an insurgency for years. The rugged, thinly populated peninsula borders Israel, Gaza and the Suez Canal.

Islamic State-affiliate Province of Sinai released a promotional video on Tuesday showing members of the organization carrying out what it alleges to be Hisba, or religious policing. The group claimed the footage is from locations in North Sinai, which it did not identify. Hisba is defined by religious scholars as the practice of commanding virtue and forbidding vice, professor of Islamic law professor at Al-Azhar University Ahmed Kareema told the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper. He added that Hisba should be conducted by a select few who must be efficient, fair, knowledgeable and capable, describing it as a type of guardianship falling to those who have been entrusted with religious matters.

Cairo Criminal Court sentenced nine defendants to life imprisonment (25 years according to the Egyptian penal code) and another 13 defendants to prison for 10 years over charges of establishing an illegal group, including “specific advanced operations committees”. The court verdict was issued by the court s top judge Shaban al-Shami and both judges Mohammed Abdel Sattar and Osama Abdel Zaher.

Syrian regime and allied forces battled to suppress the last pockets of resistance in and around Damascus Tuesday while the beleaguered Kurds in the north braced for further Turkish advances. The simultaneous assaults have sparked one of the worst humanitarian emergencies since the start of the Syrian conflict seven years ago, with aid groups struggling to gain access to the masses of displaced civilians.

Egyptian Armed Forces spokesman Tamer El-Refaie has said in a statement that 36 takfiris were killed and 345 were arrested by army and police forces during the last five days of the counterterrorism Operation Sinai 2018, which started on 9 February in Sinai and other parts of the country. The Arabic word "takfiri" refers to extremist Sunni Muslims who accuse other Muslims and followers of other religions of being infidels, often as a justification for using violence against them.

Member of the Egyptian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee Tarek El Kholy told local media that a recent request by British parliamentarians to visit former President Mohamed Morsi in prison represents an “unacceptable interference in Egypt’s internal affairs”. Morsi has been in custody since he was ousted from power in July 2013 after mass protests led to a military intervention by the Egyptian army.

Thousands of Syrian civilians fled from a rebel pocket in eastern Ghouta on Thursday, crossing by foot to army positions in the first mass exodus from the besieged enclave since Syrian government forces launched an assault to capture it a month ago. Men, women and children staggered under the weight of blankets, bags and suitcases as they walked along a dirt road to army lines on the outskirts of Hammouriyeh town. Some wept.

Gaza s Islamist rulers Hamas widened an investigation Wednesday into a bomb explosion that targeted Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah as he made a rare visit to the strip a day earlier. The interior ministry in Gaza said it had launched a "high-level investigative committee" into the bomb attack, which was a further blow to faltering reconciliation talks between Hamas and president Mahmoud Abbas s secular Fatah party.

Turkey said Tuesday its army and allied rebels have surrounded the Kurdish city of Afrin in northern Syria, raising the prospect of another devastating siege in the country s long conflict. Syria s war enters its eighth year this week with clashes raging on several fronts, including Afrin and the besieged rebel pockets of Eastern Ghouta, which saw their first medical evacuations of civilians on Tuesday.

At least 25 civilians and members of government forces have been killed in northern Iraq since late Sunday in attacks by the Islamic State group, officials said. The attacks came despite Baghdad s declaration of victory over the jihadist group late last year. "Islamic State (IS) terrorists who had set up a fake roadblock on a major road have killed 15 people," a police officer told AFP.

Pope Francis on Sunday expressed concern over national policies dictated by fear, speaking only one week after Italy s general elections which brought populist and anti-immigrant parties to the forefront. The pontiff, who has made the defence of migrants a key pillar of his five-year papacy, has repeatedly called for decisive action to solve political problems causing many to flee from their home countries.

Egypt s Armed Forces spokesman Tamer El-Refaie said that Egyptian army and police personnel carrying out Operation Sinai 2018 are performing their duties with high morale,adding that 105 takfiris have been killed since the anti-terrorism operation started on 9 February. The Arabic word "takfiri" refers to extremist Sunni Muslims who accuse other Muslims of being infidels, often as a justification for using violence against them.

Syrian government forces pounded eastern Ghouta with air strikes on Wednesday in an effort to slice the rebel enclave in two as they intensified a campaign to deal the opposition its biggest defeat since 2016. The Syrian government assault of the densely populated area on the outskirts of Damascus, which began more than two weeks ago, has become one of the fiercest campaigns of the war now entering its eighth year, with bombardment killing hundreds.

Reverend Boulis Halim, spokesman for Egypt s Coptic church, described the visit of Saudi Arabia s Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman to Abbaseya Cathedral as “a message of peace to the world and a new chapter in Saudi-church relations.” In a phone interview with Al-Asema show on Monday evening, Reverend Halim said, “not only is this a message of peace, but it supports tolerance in the Arab world and is a sign of improved relations between Saudi Arabia and the church.”

Eight people were arrested in Brussels following counter-terror raids amid signs of a plot in preparation, a source close to the investigation said. All eight were arrested Sunday in Molenbeek, an immigrant district linked to the Paris and Brussels terror attacks, following raids in Belgium, the source said.

Pope Tawadros II, the head of Egypt s Coptic Orthodox Church will meet with Saudi Arabia s Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, on the second day of the Saudi royal s visit to Cairo, the Church announced on Saturday. According to the statement, the meeting will be held at the headquarters of the Coptic Orthodox Church at St. Mark s Coptic Cathedral, marking the first visit by a Saudi crown prince to the Church s headquarters.

The Egyptian military and police killed 13 “takfiris” and arrested 86 high-risk “terrorists and criminal elements” as part of the ongoing counter-terrorism operation in Sinai, an army communiqué said on Thursday. The Arabic word "takfiri" refers to extremist Sunni Muslims who accuse other Muslims of being infidels, often as a justification for using violence against them.

Jerusalem s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, revered as the site of Jesus s crucifixion and burial, reopened on Wednesday after Israel backtracked on Tuesday from a tax plan and draft property legislation that triggered a three-day protest. The rare decision on Sunday by church leaders to close the ancient holy site, a favourite among tourists and pilgrims, with the busy Easter holiday approaching put extra pressure on Israel to re-evaluate and suspend the moves.

Eleven "takfiris" were killed by the Egyptian army during ongoing Operation Sinai 2018 operations over the past four days, the armed forces said on Tuesday. Army spokesman Tamer El-Refaie said in communiqué number 12 that "four extremely dangerous takfiris" were eliminated as the forces foiled a suicide attack by the terrorist elements, who were wearing explosive belts and military uniforms.

The Egyptian cabinet on Monday approved the start of a four-month legalization process for the status of 53 unlicensed churches and affiliated buildings across the country. "The cabinet decisions comes in light of the rights granted by the 2014 constitution to the followers of the Abrahamic religions to practice their religious rites at places of worship," a statement by the cabinet said. Article 64 of the Egyptian constitution stipulates that the right to freedom of religious practice and to establish places of worship for the followers of the Abrahamic faiths: Islam, Christianity and Judaism.