Saudi Arabia on Thursday played down the significance of a visit by Hamas leaders, saying it was only a religious pilgrimage and Riyadh's position on the Palestinian Islamist movement was unchanged.

Hisham Ali Ashmawi condemned and called for a holy war against the government of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, according to Reuters, who cited the SITE intelligence group.

Minor bombs hit the homes of two policemen in North Sinai on Wednesday morning, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

An Egyptian militant urged Muslims to launch jihad against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt's "new pharaoh", in celebration of the Islamic Eid al-Fitr holiday.

The Giza Criminal Court decided on Wednesday to postpone the trial of deposed President Mohamed Morsi and other leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in the case known as “Collaborating with Qatar” until August 2 due to his deteriorating health condition, as the sugar level in Morsi's blood has dropped.

Abdallah Morsi, the son of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, was released from prison on Tuesday after serving a one year-sentence for possession of hashish.

An Austrian court sentenced a Chechen to five years in jail on terror charges after he travelled to Syria in 2013, the latest and one of the toughest verdicts in a string of Islamic State-related cases in Austria.

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta says the fight against extremism will be the key topic of talks with U.S. President Barack Obama, who will be visiting the country of his father later this week.

The Islamic State militia is no threat to Egypt, prominent journalist and political commentator Mohamed Hassanein Heikal has said, though the militia’s Sinai affiliate has claimed responsibility for several bloody attacks against Egyptian security since 2013.

Unidentified assailants attacked the al-Abaa (Fathers) Church in eastern of Alexandria on Tuesday, using IEDs and Molotov cocktails.

Coptic activist Michael Mounir, chairman of al-Hayat Party, called for adding an article to the new personal status law, in order to prohibit Christian females below 21 years of age to convert to another religion without the approval of her male guardian.

Egypt’s Al-Azhar will participate in an intercultural and interreligious meeting of Mediterranean cultures and religions July 22-23 at the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in Barcelona, Spain, according to a Tuesday statement by Al-Azhar.

An army conscript who was pronounced dead after Saturday's terror attack by Islamist militants against army posts in North Sinai has been discovered alive, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported on Monday.

Political analysts are speculating that the new nuclear deal signed with Iran and Western powers, could empower Saudi Arabia under King Salman bin Abdulaziz to form a Sunni alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas to counter Shia influence in the Middle East.

The administrative boards of the ancient mosques will be changedstarting from Tuesday, aiming at developing the administration systems to suit the mosque’s conditions, Endowment Minister Mokhtar Gomaa announced in an official Statement Sunday.

The death toll on the Egyptian army's side rose to seven by the end of fighting on Saturday, while the total number of militants killed remained at 59, armed forces spokesman said on Sunday.

Egypt's Coptic Pope Tawadros II prayed on Sunday in Lebanon's Armenian Orthodox Church for the slain victims of the Armenian Massacre at the hand of the Ottoman Empire.

The Islamic State's Egypt affiliate, Sinai Province, has claimed responsibility for Thursday's missile attack on a naval boat off the Mediterranean coast of Egypt.

The death toll on the Egyptian army's side rose to seven by the end of fighting on Saturday, while the total number of militants killed remained at 59, armed forces spokesman said on Sunday.

The Islamic State group (IS) announced Sunday on social media that it has kidnapped three Christian Africans in Libya; an Egyptian, Ghanaian and Nigerian, posting their passport pictures.

Saudi Arabia has arrested 431 people suspected of belonging to Islamic State cells and thwarted attacks on mosques, security forces and a diplomatic mission, the interior ministry said on Saturday.