Chad president visiting Israel, five years after warming ties

Chad's President Mahamat Deby was in Israel on Wednesday, his office said without providing further details, five years after the two countries revived relations. The trip is the first to Israel for Deby, who took over after his father died in 2021. Netanyahu has cast the upgrade of relations with Chad as part of his outreach to Arab and Muslim countries, which wants to expand.

Chad's President Mahamat Deby was in Israel on Wednesday, his office said without providing further details, five years after the two countries revived relations. Israel and Chad resumed ties in 2018 following a visit to Jerusalem by then-President Idriss Deby. The Muslim-majority African country had previously scaled down relations in protest at Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory in a 1967 war.

In a statement late on Tuesday, Deby's office said he had left on a 48-hour Israel trip. In Jerusalem, the Foreign Ministry referred queries on the matter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, which did not immediately respond. The trip is the first to Israel for Deby, who took over after his father died in 2021.

Netanyahu has cast the upgrade of relations with Chad as part of his outreach to Arab and Muslim countries, which wants to expand.

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