Egypt on Friday arrested a top leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the latest swept up by Cairo's long-running crackdown against the outlawed Islamist group, the interior ministry said.

The only crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened on Tuesday for 72 hours, allowing people to leave the Palestinian enclave for the first time since the novel coronavirus outbreak began.

At least 14 prisoners have died from likely COVID-19 complications in scantly-monitored outbreaks of the disease at Egyptian detention centres, Human Rights Watch said Monday.

Wandering Cairo's bustling streets, Zeinab was struggling to survive by selling tissues when the coronavirus left her even more vulnerable, along with thousands of other homeless people and street children.

Libya's parliament has passed a motion authorising Egypt to intervene militarily if needed to safeguard the "national security" of both countries in light of what it termed a Turkish "occupation".

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has accepted the blame for a failure to extract answers from Egypt over the unresolved 2016 murder of an Italian student in Cairo, while defending a controversial frigate deal.

Egypt said Saturday that 21 jihadists were killed in clashes with security forces in the restive Sinai peninsula, where Islamic State group-affiliated militants have waged a long-running insurgency.

The interior ministry said in a statement that police raided two hideouts of "terrorist elements" in North Sinai governorate, sparking a gunbattle in which two officers were also wounded.

Egypt's economy had just started to recover after years of political turmoil and militant attacks when the coronavirus crisis hit, impacting especially its vital tourism sector.  

Police in Kuwait "dispelled a riot" by stranded Egyptians unable to return home amid the coronavirus pandemic, authorities said early Monday, the first reported sign of unrest from the region's vast population of foreign workers who have lost their jobs over the crisis.

Online videos purported to show Kuwaiti police firing tear gas at the demonstrators overnight, who earlier chanted: "Where is our embassy?"

Egypt on Tuesday flew a plane of medical supplies to the United States to assist in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, a role reversal for a top US aid recipient.