Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry renewed his country’s categorical rejection of any attempts to push the Palestinians outside their lands or liquidate their cause.
Shoukry reiterated – during a meeting held – today, Sunday – in Brussels with European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell – Egypt’s refusal to “use Israel’s persistence in controlling all the crossings of the Gaza Strip as a tool to tighten the siege, starve the Palestinian people, and create a reality uninhabited by life in the Strip.”
Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said – in a statement – that Shoukry and Borrell’s discussions focused on addressing the various humanitarian, security and political dimensions of the crisis in the Gaza Strip, ways to contain its repercussions, and support the political path to implement the two-state solution and end this crisis from its roots.
Shukri stressed the important role sought from influential international parties, such as the European Union, in supporting the current moves to stop the Israeli war against the Gaza Strip and stop the bleeding of Palestinian blood.
The two parties stressed the necessity of reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and stopping military operations in the Palestinian city of Rafah, as well as ensuring complete and safe access of humanitarian aid and relief materials to the Strip.
The importance of Israel respecting and protecting humanitarian workers, and not targeting the headquarters of international relief agencies, was also stressed, as well as ensuring the access and freedom of movement of relief crews in the Gaza Strip in line with the provisions of international humanitarian law.
Warning about the Rafah operation
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman stated that Shukry renewed the warning against the dangers of the Israeli military operations in the city of Rafah, due to their catastrophic humanitarian repercussions on more than 1.4 million Palestinians, and their security effects on peace and stability of the region and the capabilities of its people.
He called for “the need for Israel to comply with its obligations as the occupying power, remove all obstacles it places in the way of the entry of aid, and open all land crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip, as well as providing safe conditions for international relief crews to receive and distribute aid in the Gaza Strip.”
On May 7, Israel took control of the Palestinian side with the Rafah crossing, a day after Tel Aviv announced the start of a military operation in Rafah despite international warnings.
In a related context, Borrell said that the situation in Gaza exceeded all imaginable levels, even after the International Court of Justice decided to stop the war and bring in aid.
The European Union foreign policy official added – at the beginning of a meeting of international partners on the Palestine file in Brussels – that the West Bank is also on the verge of explosion.
Since last October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leaving more than 116,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and about 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly.
Israel continues this war, ignoring a Security Council resolution demanding that it stop the fighting immediately, and orders from the Court of Justice demanding that it stop its attack on Rafah, and take immediate measures to prevent acts of genocide, and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.