Egypt controls its borders completely: Foreign Ministry Spokesman

CAIRO – 14 January 2024: Egypt controls its borders completely, sad Ahmed Abu Zeid, the spokesperson of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in media comments.

Abu Zeid’s comments came as a response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks regarding Philadelphia Aix (aka the Salah al-Din Axis which refers to a strip of land along the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.  Netanyahu said that the Philadelphia Aix is a hole through which arms go to Hamas and it should be closed. He added that Israel had not decided to take over the area along the border with Egypt yet.

“These matters [like the Philadelphia Aix] are subjected to legal accords …and Egypt will respond to comments accordingly,” Abu Zeid said in talk show “On My Responsibility” on Sada Al Balad T.V. on Saturday.

In response to a question on Egypt’s stance towards South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel over the “Genocidal intent” charges, Abu Zeid affirmed that Egypt is supporting all efforts aiming at investigating the Israeli violations against the Palestinian people. He added that the case is a legal right, which takes certain procedures.

In reply to Israeli claims that Egypt is responsible for the entry of aid to the Rafah border crossing, Abu Zeid that the crossing has opened since the beginning of the crisis. Egypt has exerted tremendous efforts to send humanitarian aid to the Gazans, he continued.

He noted that Egypt has also co-drafted UN resolution 2720 (2023), which “demands immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale directly to the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip.”

The Spokesperson stated that Egypt, from the beginning, clarified that Israel has impeded the humanitarian aid delivery through certain ways like inspecting the aid truck convoys and preventing medical aid and denying access of journalists to the strip, besides shelling the border several times and impediment of the exit of the injured people.

Ad for the US/UK military attacks on Yemen, he affirmed Egypt has repeatedly voiced its concerns regarding the developments in the Red Sea Region.  Egypt has warned against the danger of expanding the conflict in the region.

“The ideal solution to stop the expansion of the war in the region is a ceasefire in Gaza,” he said.