Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi defended Thursday that Gaza Strip residents should “remain in their country,” despite growing calls for Egypt to allow the safe passage of civilians fleeing the area.
This Palestinian enclave has suffered a series of Israeli airstrikes since Hamas, the ruling Islamist movement classified as terrorist by the United States and the European Union, launched a deadly attack on Israel on Saturday, killing more than 1,200 people, including most of them civilians.
In the Gaza Strip, local authorities recorded more than 1,400 deaths as a result of Israeli retaliatory attacks.
Cairo, the traditional mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, oversees the Rafah crossing, the only entry point into the Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel.
Egypt is determined to guarantee the delivery of “aid, both medical and humanitarian, during this difficult period,” Al-Sisi stressed, reiterating his country’s “firm position” in guaranteeing the “legitimate rights” of Palestinians .
But during a military ceremony he stressed that Gazans must “stand firm and stay in their land.”
The Gaza Strip, a poor area home to 2.4 million Palestinians, has been under Israeli blockade since Hamas took power in the country in 2007.
Since the attack by the Islamist movement on October 7, Israel has cut off water, electricity and food supplies.
Egypt has called on donors to send humanitarian aid destined for Gaza to Al-Arich airport, 50 kilometers from the Rafah border crossing, but opposes the idea of allowing fleeing Palestinians into its territory.
In recent days, Egyptian media, citing senior security officials, have warned of a mass exodus of Palestinians forced “to choose between death under Israeli bombardment or expulsion from their land.”
Egypt defends a diplomatic solution and calls for restraint on both sides.
Al-Sisi also emphasized that his country’s national security is his “primary responsibility.”
Egypt is already receiving “nine million guests, as I call them, from many countries seeking safety and protection,” he pointed out.
However, the case of Gaza residents is different because their displacement would mean “the elimination of the Palestinian cause,” he added.
In 1979, Egypt became the first Arab country to normalize relations with Israel.
Source: DN
