Arab states pledged $12 billion in investment aid to Egypt on Friday as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hosted a conference aimed at jump-starting the economy and positioning himself as a key force against jihadists.

Attending the conference at the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington also stood beside Egypt as it seeks to recover from years of turmoil.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam announced Friday his confidence in Egypt's ability to “overcome the tough phase,” as he reminded that Lebanon is also facing a “fierce terrorist onslaught.”

“We believe that investments in Egypt today would contribute to immunizing the Arab national security,” said Salam in a speech at the Egypt Economic Development Conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held talks Friday with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and the leaders of Egypt and Jordan on the stalled Middle East peace process, officials said.

Kerry was attending an investment conference in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh along with hundreds of prominent figures to jumpstart its economy.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry left Thursday for a key economic conference in Egypt, followed by further talks in Switzerland on Iran's suspect nuclear program.

Kerry is due to arrive Friday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh to attend an international economic conference, set to burnish President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's global credentials.

Hizbullah hailed on Thursday the Egyptian government's appeal against a ruling that considered the Palestinian group Hamas as a terrorist organization.

The party's media office deemed the step as “positive,” calling for dialogue between it and Hamas to “improve their ties.”

Security measures have been boosted near the Egyptian embassy in Beirut's Bir Hassan area after receiving threats from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq confirmed in comments published in al-Mustaqbal newspaper on Thursday the threats.

An Egyptian court jailed four men Wednesday over the brutal street killing of a dog, which was filmed and sparked outrage when the video went viral on the Internet.

The verdict and three-year sentence come as a rare victory for animal rights campaigners, who say authorities often ignore such abuses.

Egypt hosts a foreign investor conference Friday it hopes will jump-start its battered economy while showcasing international support for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as he battles increasingly radical Islamist opponents.

Sisi, a former army chief voted into office after toppling his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi, has positioned himself as a frontline ally in the regional fight against Islamist militants, arguing that his country deserves more international support.

Two bombings in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, one of them a suicide attack on a police base, killed a civilian and an army officer Tuesday as an Islamist insurgency showed no let-up, officials said.

The rugged peninsula is the base of the Islamic State group's Egyptian affiliate, formerly known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem), which has claimed the majority of attacks on the security forces in the region.

The retrial of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons on charges of corruption will open on April 4, a judicial official said on Monday.

In January, the Court of Cassation overturned Mubarak's conviction on corruption charges and ordered that he and his sons Alaa and Gamal be tried again.