Palestinian ambassador in Cairo: We reject deportation of our people from Gaza to Egypt

CARO - 15 October 2023: Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt Diab Al-Louh said at a press conference on Sunday that the Palestinian authority totally rejects deporting Palestinians from their homes to other places inside Gaza or in Egypt.

“Palestinians are victims of the atrocities and massacres committed by the Israeli occupation, which is systemically destructing hospitals, mosques and houses,” the ambassador said in the conference that was held to announce the latest developments of the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli war.

The Palestinian ambassador thanked President El-Sisi and Egypt for backing the Palestinian people. “From the first moment of this brutal aggression, Egypt has put all its political and diplomatic weight into stopping this brutal war on Gaza. Egypt has been consistent in supporting the Palestinian cause,” he stressed.

“Palestine is going through a very difficult historical moment,” he said, adding that this ongoing war is one of the most dangerous battles that the Palestinian people have fought because it aims to uproot them from their land.

He called upon the international community to immediately intervene to end the occupation’s aggression, provide urgent international protection for the Palestinian people, and open humanitarian corridors urgently for food and medical supplies.

Al-Louh added that Israel has destructed 30,000 housing units and 14 hospitals, and displaced more than 1.2 million citizens in the strip. He revealed that 40 dead bodies of children and women remain unidentified in Al-Quds hospital because their heads were blown off.

The ambassador further stressed that the Palestinian and Egyptian leaders are working to confront all challenges and preserve Egyptian sovereignty over its lands and its national security.

“We will continue to reject all plans to displace Palestinians to Egypt or any other place. There is no Palestinian state without Gaza and there is no capital without Jerusalem […] Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the State of Palestine,” he continued, noting that 2,000 Palestinians are waiting in the Egyptian city of Arish to return to Gaza through the border crossing.

As for the inter-Palestine reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, Al-Louh said that they are considering forming a follow-up committee to reach a Palestinian reconciliation under Egyptian brokerage once the war ends.

Over the past days, Al-Arish 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 land, violating international laws.

The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza is open, but it became “inoperable” after Israel bombed it, said Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in an interview with the CNN. “The border crossing was bombed [by Israel]. The Palestinian side is not in a position to receive vehicles,” Shoukry was quoted as saying.

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 end to the suffering of the Palestinians under the Israeli siege in the Gaza Strip and stop the intensive provocative actions by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Palestine has 2,329 martyrs and 9,042 injured Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, while the number of martyrs reached 55 people and about 1,100 were injured in the West Bank.

Israel announced that the number of deaths reached 1,300 Israelis and more than 3,400 others were injured.