2020 in Egypt

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Decades:	2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s
See also:	Other events of 2020 List of years in Egypt

Events of 2020 in Egypt

Incumbents

• President of Egypt: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
• Prime Minister of Egypt: Moustafa Madbouly

Events

January to March

• 1 January – New Year's Day (bank holiday but not a public holiday)[1]
• 7 January – Coptic Christmas(national holiday)[1]
• 25 January – Revolution Day (national holiday)[1] and National Police Day (Egypt)
• 31 January – A 12-year-old girl dies during genital mutilation surgery.[2]
• 1 February – The Grand Mufti is to rule on the legality of 37 death sentences for terrorism.[3]
• 3 February – Daesh claims responsibility for a gas pipeline explosion in the Sinai Peninsula.[4]
• 11 February – The Egyptian population reaches 100 million.[5]
• 14 February- Egyptian Health Ministry confirms the first case of coronavirus.
• 16 February – Egypt's chief prosecutor denies Egyptian student and human rights activist Patrick George Zaki, 28, was tortured for criticizing President Fattah el-Sissi.[6]
• 29 February – Egypt says it will use "all means" to defend its interests in a dispute with Ethiopia and Sudan over a dam on the Nile River.[7]
• 13 March – Twenty people are killed as "the dragon," the strongest storm in 35 or 40 years, hits Egypt, closing Luxor International Airport.[8]
• 30 March – Museums and archaeological sites, including the Pyramids and the Sphinx at Giza, are closed until at least April 15. Authorities still plan to light up the pyramids on 30 March to honor health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt. 600 infections and 40 deaths have been reported due to the virus.[9]

April to June

• 19 April – Coptic Easter (national holiday)[1]
• 20 April – Coptic Easter Monday (national holiday)[1]
• 23 April
  • The nighttime curfew is shortened by one hour during Ramadan. The curfew will run from 9 pm to 6 am.[10]
  • Attempts to resolve disputes between the Spanish firm Naturgy Energy Group S.A., the Italian Eni S.p.A., and the Egyptian government over a gas plant in Damietta, northern Egypt, fail.[11]
• 23 April to 23 May – Ramadan[12]
• 25 April – Sinai Liberation Day(national holiday)[1]
• 1 May – Labour Day (national holiday)[1]
• 2 May – International Workers' Day (national holiday celebrated this day in lieu of Friday)[1]
• 3 May – On World Press Freedom Day, Amnesty International issues a statement saying that journalism in Egypt has effectively become a crime over the past four years.[13]
• 8 May – President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi expands his state-of-emergency powers under the coronavirus pandemic threat. Public and private meetings, protests, celebrations and other forms of assembly can be banned; taxes and utility payments can be postponed. The state of emergency began in April 2017.[14]
• 17 May – Lina Attalah, editor-in-chief for Mada Masr, an independent news website, is arrested during an interview.[15]
• May 24 to 26 – Eid al-Fitr (Muslim and national holiday)[1]
• 2 June – American Mohamed Soltan, 32, sues former Prime Minister Hazem El Beblawi for crimes against humanity. Soltan was imprisoned in Egypt for 21 months starting in 2013.[16]
• June 17 to 20 – Egyptian hackers engage in cyberattacks against Ethiopia's security forces.[17][18]
• June 27
  • Egypt executes Libyan militant Abdel-Rahim al-Mosmari, convicted of plotting an attack that killed at least 16 police officers in October 2017.[19]
• 30 June – Revolution Day June 30 (national holiday)[1]

July to September

• July 6
  • The government arrests several doctors and other medical workers who criticize the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.[20]
  • Mohamed Amashah, 24, an Egyptian-American student, is released from Tora prison in Cairo after 16 months of captivity.[21]
• July 10 - Egyptian spy uncovered in German Press Office. He was looking for information on Egyptian opposition figures in Germany.
• July 10 – The government bans kite-flying, seizing 369 kites in Cairo and 99 in Alexandria, citing both safety and national security concerns.[22]
• July 13 – At least 100 women, many minors, complain of sexual assault, harassment, blackmail, or rape. Activists set up @assaultpolice on Instagram to collect allegations. Many of the anonymous accounts are from students at the American International School, one of the country’s most expensive private high schools, and The American University in Cairo.[23]
• August 3 – Minister of International Co-operation, Rania al-Mashat invites billionaire Elon Musk to visit after he tweets, "Aliens built the pyramids obv."Aarchaeologist Zahi Hawass responds that the "pyramids [were] built by Egyptians."[24]

Planned and scheduled events

• 23 July – Revolution Day (Egypt) (national holiday)[1]
• 31 July to 2 August – Eid al-Adha (Muslim and national holiday)[1]
• 20 August – Islamic New Year (Muslim and national holiday)[1]
• 6 October – Armed Forces Day (national holiday)[1]
• 29 October – Mawlid (Muslim and national holiday)[1]

Sports

• January 7 – 11: Volleyball at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's African qualification, Cairo
• January 16 – January 26: 2020 African Men's Handball Championship: Egypt won their seventh title by defeating Tunisia 27–23 in the final.[25]
• January 23 – 31: African Para Games in Cairo
• January 28 – February 7: 2020 Africa Futsal Cup of Nations: Morocco was the defending champion and successfully managed to defend their title after beating Egypt 5–0 in the final.
• February 10 and 13 – 2020 All Africa Men's and Women's Team Badminton Championships, Cairo
• February 10 and 16 – 2020 Zed Tennis Open, Cairo
• February 14 to 16 – 2020 African Badminton Championships, Cairo
• February 17 and 23 – 2020 Zed Tennis Open II

Deaths

January to June

• 16 January - Magda al-Sabahi, 88, actress
• 17 January - Ibrahim Farah, 68, actor.[26]
• 17 January - Nadia Rafik, 84, actress.[27]
• 7 February – Lenin El-Ramly, 75, screenwriter (The Terrorist).[28]
• 25 February – Hosni Mubarak, 91, military officer and politician, President (1981–2011), Prime Minister (1981–1982) and Vice-President (1975–1981).[29]
• 28 February – Muhammad Imara, 88, Islamic scholar.[30]
• 28 March – George Sidhom, 81, comedian and actor.[31]
• May 2 – Shady Habash, 22, filmmaker and critic of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.[32]
• June 6 – Constantin Xenakis, 88, Egyptian-born Greek painter.[33]
• June 14 – Sarah Hegazi, 30, LGBT rights activist; suicide.[34]

July to December

• July 5 – Ragaa Al Geddawy, 81, actress; COVID-19[35]
• July 10 – Mahmoud Reda, 90, dancer, choreographer and Olympic gymnast (1952).[36]
• July 28 – Mohammed Al Mashali, 76, Egyptian physician.[37]
• August 2 – Samia Amin, 75, actress.[38]
• August 11 – Edmond Kiraz, 96, Egyptian-born French cartoonist and illustrator.[39]
• August 13 – Essam el-Erian, 66, politician.[40]

See also

• COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
• COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt
• 2020 in North Africa
• 2020 in Libya
• 2020 in Tunisia
• 2020 in Algeria
• 2020 in Morocco
• 2020s
• African Union
• Arab League
• Terrorism in Egypt
• 2020 Middle East storms
• List of George Floyd protests outside the United States

References

1. "National Holidays in Egypt in 2020". Office Holidays. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
2. In Egypt, 12-year-old girl dies after genital mutilation by NOHA ELHENNAWY, Associated Press, 31 January 2020
3. Egypt weighs 37 death sentences that include militant leader by SAMY MAGDY, Associated Press, February 1, 2020
4. Islamic State claims purported attack on Egypt-Israel gas pipeline in Sinai Times of Israel, 3 Feb 2020
5. "Egypt's population reaches record 100 million mark". The New Arab. Feb 11, 2020. Retrieved Feb 11, 2020.
6. Egypt’s top prosecutor denies activist was tortured ABC News, 16 Feb 2020
7. Egypt: We'll use 'all means' to defend Nile interests AP/Yahoo! News, 29 Feb 2020
8. "Nearly 20 killed as 'dragon' storm brings widespread flooding to Egypt". Middle East Eye. Retrieved Apr 25, 2020.
9. Prisoners riot in Iran; Netanyahu goes into self-quarantine By AMIR VAHDAT and ARON HELLER, Associated Press/ABC News, 30 March 2020
10. "Egypt shortens night curfew by an hour for Ramadan". Reuters. 23 April 2020. Retrieved Apr 23, 2020.
11. "Eni and Naturgy's Damietta gas plant deal with Egypt falls through". Reuters. 23 April 2020. Retrieved Apr 23, 2020.
12. "When is Ramadan 2020? Start and end dates, timetable and when Eid al-Fitr is". inews.co.uk. Retrieved Apr 23, 2020.
13. News, A. B. C. "Amnesty reports chilling details of Egypt press crackdown". ABC News. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
14. News, A. B. C. "Egypt's president expands powers, citing virus outbreak". ABC News. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
15. "Independent Egyptian media outlet says top editor arrested". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
16. News, A. B. C. "Egypt's ex-PM faces torture allegation in American's lawsuit". ABC News. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
17. Munawer, Qamar (23 June 2020). "Egyptian cyberattack on Ethiopian Security Agency website and some other". The Eastern Herald. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
18. Zelalem, Zecharias. "An Egyptian cyber attack on Ethiopia by hackers is the latest strike over the Grand Dam". Quartz Africa. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
19. News, A. B. C. "Egypt executes Libyan militant for plotting deadly attack". ABC News. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
20. "Egypt arrests doctors, silences critics over virus outbreak". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
21. News, A. B. C. "American student released after 486 days in Egyptian prison". ABC News. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
22. "Egypt grounds kites for 'safety', 'national security'". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
23. "Accusations of serial assault spark new #MeToo wave in Egypt". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
24. Furdyk, Brent. "Egyptian Government Invites Elon Musk To Visit Pyramids After He Tweets They Were Built By Aliens". www.msn.com. ET Canada. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
25. 2020 African champion Egypt (in French) retrieved 6 Apr 2020
26. توفي بالعناية المركزة.. من هو "إبراهيم فرح" بطل "الخواجة عبدالقادر"؟ (in Arabic)
27. The death of Egyptian actress Nadia Rafik
28. Egyptian playwright Lenin El-Ramly dies aged 75
29. Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak dies
30. وفاة المفكر الإسلامي محمد عمارة.. وهذه وصيته (in Arabic)
31. Egyptian comedy icon George Sidhom dies at 81
32. News, A. B. C. "Lawyers: Egypt filmmaker who mocked president dies in prison". ABC News. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
33. Greek Painter Constantin Xenakis Dies at the Age of 89
34. Egyptian LGBT rights activist dies by suicide in Canada after 'failing to survive'
35. "وفاة الفنانة المصرية رجاء الجداوي بعد معاناة مع فيروس كورونا". BBC News Arabic (in Arabic). 5 July 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
36. وفاة الفنان محمود رضا أشهر مصمم رقصات مصرى عن عمر يناهز 90 عاما (in Arabic)
37. Egypt’s ‘doctor of the poor’ dies
38. بعد صراع مع المرض.. وفاة الفنانة سامية أمين (in Arabic)
39. Kiraz, the designer of "Parisiennes", died at the age of 96
40. "Senior Muslim Brotherhood figure dies in prison in Egypt". August 13, 2020 – via af.reuters.com.