(CNN)– Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid confirmed on Saturday that Egypt “is still in full control of its borders,” following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call to close the Egyptian border with Gaza before the end of the war..
Abu Zeid said, during statements to the Egyptian “Sada El Balad” channel: “Egypt fully controls its borders, and these issues are subject to legal and security agreements between the countries concerned, so any talk about this matter is generally subject to scrutiny and is responded to with declared positions.”
Netanyahu had said that Israel could not end its war against the Hamas movement until closing the Philadelphia axis (Salah al-Din axis), a strip of land 14 kilometers (about 8.6 miles) long that serves as the border between Egypt and Gaza.
He added, “Even after the defeat of Hamas, military equipment and other deadly weapons will continue to enter this southern crossing, so of course we need to close it.”
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman reiterated his country’s role in the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing, blaming Israel for obstructing this.
He said: “We have made it clear from day one that any decisions that hinder the entry of aid are essentially Israeli measures, and come through various methods, including strictness in inspecting trucks, wasting a lot of time in the inspection process, and preventing and obstructing the entry of medical aid, journalists, and officials.”
2024-01-14 01:37:28
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