The President of Egypt Abdel Fatah al-Sisi said Thursday that Gazans must “be steadfast and stay on their land.” AFP reports. He made the statement amid calls for Cairo to allow safe passage of civilians, remained in Gaza.
The border crossing Rafah between Egypt and Gaza is the only entrance and exit from the coastal enclave not controlled by Israel.
Israel has been bombing the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip since Saturday in retaliation for the shocking attack, which killed 1200 people, mostly civilians. It appears ready to send ground troops to Gaza, where officials reported more than 1,400 deaths.
Egypt is committed to providing the delivery of “medical and humanitarian aid at this difficult time”Sisi said, reaffirming Cairo’s “firm position” to guarantee the “legitimate rights” of the Palestinians.
The tiny coastal enclave, home to 2.4 million people, already blockaded since 2007, is under siege by Israel, which has cut off water, food and electricity supplies. Six days of relentless Israeli air and artillery strikes reduced entire areas to rubble.
Egypt, historically a key mediator between Hamas and Israelcalled on donors to send humanitarian aid to Gaza to El Arish airportbut resisted calls to allow fleeing Palestinians into his land.
Egypt facilitates the delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip
However, Cairo does not want a mass exodus of Palestinians through the only border crossing with the Gaza Strip
In recent days, state-affiliated media cited senior security sources warning against a mass exodus of Palestinians who were “forced to choose between death under Israeli bombardment or displacement from their land”.
Egypt insists on a diplomatic solution and calls for restraint on both sides, while Sisi claims that his country’s national security is his “primary responsibility”.
On Thursday, he said that Egypt has already hosted “nine million guests, as I call them, from many countries who have come to Egypt for security and safety”.
But the case of Gazans is different, he said, because of their displacement would mean “eliminating the Palestinian cause”.
Egypt was the first Arab country to normalize relations with Israel in 1979. This came after a six-year war that ended in 1973 when Egypt reclaimed the Sinai Peninsula from Israeli control.
Cairo is looking for ways to help the people of Gaza
The US is trying to get American citizens out of the Gaza Strip
2023-10-13 00:03:38
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