Shoukry to German counterpart: Egypt rejects Israeli calls of deporting Palestinians in Gaza

CAIRO – 14 October 2023: Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, who is visiting Cairo, discussing the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and ongoing escalation between the Israeli and Palestinian sides.

Both sides also addressed the ways to coordinate international and regional efforts to stop this escalation and achieve calm, said Foreign Ministry Spokesperaon Ahmed Abu Zeid.

Shoukry spoke with his German counterpart about the results of the contacts carried out by Egypt with the Palestinian and Israeli sides and the main regional and international parties in order to advance truce efforts and provide safe and urgent access for humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip.

 The Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs also noted the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, and the necessity for countries to comply with their humanitarian obligations to provide an urgent humanitarian response to the people of the Strip and alleviate their suffering.

He also stressed the importance of refraining from exposing innocent people to policies of collective punishment, such as siege, starvation or displacement, in violation of international obligations within the framework of international humanitarian law.

The Minister also stressed the need to immediately stop the violent Israeli bombing and refrain from any escalatory steps, threats of ground offensive, and intimidation of innocent people.

He also affirmed Egypt’s position rejecting the repeated Israeli calls for citizens in Gaza to move to the south of the Strip, due to the dangers exposing the lives of more than a million Palestinian citizens and their families to the risk of remaining homeless in the face of dangerous and harsh humanitarian and security conditions.

Minister Shoukry was also keen to stress the need for the international community, especially the Security Council and the international and regional actors to assume their responsibilities to stop this escalation and call for calm, to open the way for diplomatic efforts to push towards addressing the root causes of this escalation to reach a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue.

Egypt refused to allow foreign citizens, including Americans stranded at the Rafah border crossing, to leave the strip through it: officials from Gaza told Al Qahera News channel

Egypt conditioned that the Rafah border crossing should be also for sending humanitarian aid to Palestinians who are under the Israeli attack and besiege, the officials added.

It was reported by AFP that a US official said Israel and Egypt agree to “allow American citizens to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing today,” adding “the United States did not yet have confirmation that the agreement was being implemented.”

Over the past days, Al-Arish in Egypt’s northern Sinai received tons of urgent humanitarian aid from many countries to be delivered to the Palestinian people in Gaza, who total more than 2 million people.

Israel has called Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to leave their homes and head for the southern part of the strip, near the Egyptian border city of Al Arish, ahead of the Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has been bombed since October 7. The Israeli call reflects how Israel is working to expel all Palestinians from their lands and violating international laws and norms.

Hamas' Qassam Brigades launched Saturday an offensive on Israeli settlements in the occupied lands by firing 5,000 missiles in 20 minutes, invoking airstrikes on Gaza that incurred scores of casualties and have not ceased until present.

Hamas fighters launched their military operation to put an end to the suffering of the Palestinians due to the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip and due to the intensive provocative actions by Israeli forces and settlers against the Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Israel has 2,215 martyrs and wounded 8,714 others in the Gaza Strip, while in the West Bank, the number of martyrs reached 54 people and about 1,100 were injured.

Israel announced that the number of deaths reached 1,300 Israelis and 3,300 others were injured.

Egypt warned against the serious dangers of the continuous Israeli escalation against the Palestinians when the Israeli forces stormed and attacked many parts of the occupied lands in Jenin of the West Bank.