JERUSALEM -- Israeli nationalist lawmaker Naftali Bennett announced on Sunday that he has accepted a coalition deal with centrist Yair Lapid to form "the government of change" to oust Benjamin Netanyahu, the country's longest-serving prime minister.

Bennett, leader of the small pro-settler Yamina party, said in a statement that he and Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party, will work to put together a coalition government following the March 23 elections. (Israel-Kingmaker-Coalition Deal)

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ISMAILIA -- Egypt's Suez Canal Authority (SCA) announced on Sunday the captain of Ever Given was fully responsible for the grounding of the huge cargo vessel that blocked the canal for six days in March.

"It is due to the captain's repeated orders in a very short time," Captain al-Sayed Shuaisha, head of the SCA's investigation team, told reporters at the SCA's headquarters in the Suez-Canal city of Ismailia. (Egypt-Suez Canal-Ship Grounding-Probe)

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RAMALLAH -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday discussed with visiting Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel the ways to stabilize the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

Abbas and Kamel reviewed the recent developments in the Palestinian territories related to the ceasefire, which Abbas said should include not only the Gaza Strip, but also East Jerusalem and the West Bank, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. (Palestine-Egypt-Israel-Ceasefire)

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CAIRO -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met on Sunday with his visiting Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi over solidifying the recent Egypt-brokered cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that controls the Gaza Strip, the Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement.

The meeting is "part of Egypt's relentless and continued efforts to revive the peace track and to build on the cease-fire in the Gaza strip," said the ministry statement, without providing any further details. (Egypt-Israel-Gaza Ceasefire) Enditem

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